


St Gloriana and the Boys of Yorkshire

by LordPerkins



Series: St Gloriana and the Boys of Yorkshire [1]
Category: Girls und Panzer
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-25
Updated: 2018-08-25
Packaged: 2021-02-28 06:34:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 23
Words: 53,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22929541
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LordPerkins/pseuds/LordPerkins
Summary: After the success of Ooarai in the Senshadou tournament, the Japanese Senshadou Federation decreed that those that had been unable to participate previously would be able to do so now. Join the boys of Yorkshire School for Young Gentleman as they join up with the girls of St Gloriana as they prove that CoEd teams are viable, and maybe find love along the way.
Relationships: Assam/Original Character, Darjeeling/Original Character, Orange Pekoe/Original Character, Rosehip/Original Character
Series: St Gloriana and the Boys of Yorkshire [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1647985
Comments: 2
Kudos: 8





	1. Chapter 1

Darjeeling was intrigued by Headmistress Lady Gray's request for her to join her on the flight deck of the ship. Oh, she knew what it was about. St. Gloriana was merging Sensha-dō teams with a relatively smaller school. A boys school no less and it was the Command Crew of the Flag Tank that was coming aboard. No, it was that the Headmistress had requested her Command Crew to join them as well that puzzled her. It wasn't that she was against Orange Pekoe, Assam, and Ruhuna meeting these boys, rather, she was dreading introducing them and the other boys to her team. She was under no delusions about what happened when teenagers of opposite genders were in close proximity to each other after all.

However, once she reached the landing strip, she didn't have any further time to ponder her quandary as everyone heard the roar of a C-130 on her final approach and saw her touch down a few minutes later. As the rear door swung open, Darjeeling took a look at the Dossiers she had been given on the boys.

* * *

_Foster Hall_

_Rank: Cadet_

_Position: Driver_

_Personality: Hard Worker and mediator_

_Commander's Notes: Rarely gripes and able to keep other cadets out of too much trouble._

* * *

_Stanley Stewart_

_Rank: Cadet_

_Position: Loader_

_Personality: Hard Worker_

_Commander's Notes: Silent but deadly would be the best way to describe Cdt Stewart but he is also capable of holding a grudge for a long time._

* * *

_Joshua Hall_

_Rank: Lieutenant_

_Position: Gunner/SiC_

_Personality: Fixer_

_Commander's Notes: Capable and willing to sit down and help cadets with issues that are bothering them, even officers sometimes are assisted by him._

* * *

_Scott Perkins_

_Rank: Captain_

_Position: Commander/Commanding Officer of Team_

_Personality: Unknown_

_Commandant's Note: No one has been able to get close enough to Captain Perkins to get him to open up, though if Lt Hall has managed, he's not telling. Word of caution, DO NOT under any circumstances mention Archibald Evans, it is the quickest way to ensure that he will make your life a living hell, officer or no. On a side note; the Halls referred to Captain Perkins as "Milord" and now the entire team does, and Perkins does nothing to stop it, suggesting the Halls may know more than I._

* * *

To say that Darjeeling was intrigued by the mysterious commander of the boys was the understatement of the century. But little time could be used to ponder the quandary as a Centurion Main Battle Tank rolled towards them. Once it was stopped in front of them, the Commander's hatch popped open and out popped Scott Perkins himself, dressed in a replica uniform to the one worn by Sir Arthur Wellesley at the battle of Waterloo, but what struck Darjeeling was his eyes, they seemed to carry a haunted look to them. He quickly jumped out and approached the Headmistress, "Captain Perkins reporting as ordered, ma'am," he said while snapping off a salute.

The Headmistress returned it and said, "Captain, it's good to meet you in person," she then gestured to Darjeeling, "Allow me to introduce Darjeeling, the commander of our Sensha-dō team and her crew…"

"Assam: Gunner, Orange Pekoe: Loader, and Ruhuna: Driver. I received dossiers much like Commander Darjeeling, Ma'am," he replied, then he turned to the girls, "A pleasure to make all of your acquaintances ladies, however, I must give my boys a few orders, I'll only be a second," he then turned to the tank, where the girls noticed that the boys were in Napoleonic era Line Infantry uniforms, specifically the 42nd Royal Highland Regiment of Foot, more commonly known as the Black Watch. "Right boys, you are aware of your bunk arrangements, take the Centurion to the garages, and perform maintenance like you were supposed to before we left but ran out of time for. After that, you may take your trunks to your bunks, meet me at the main cafeteria at 12:30 for grub and an update. Remember, Buckingham protocols, else I'll kick your arses back to Britain myself. Dismissed!"

Foster nodded, "Ay Milord!" and started driving towards the garages. Oddly, the strains of _The Soldiers of the Old Home Guard_ could be heard as they drove away.

Darjeeling was curious, and so was, it seemed, her Headmistress, "Buckingham Protocols?" she asked.

Scott nodded, "I told the boys that if I heard one of the girls crying because of one of them, I'd send them back to Britain faster than they could say 'Bugger', so I suggested that they treat all the ladies here as if they were the Queen, and since Buckingham Palace is the most recognizable symbol of the Queen; well, the name 'Buckingham Protocols' stuck."

Lady Gray nodded, then turned to Darjeeling, "Show him his office, then I would suggest spending some time together and get to know one another. Better performance on the battlefield and all."

Darjeeling nodded and with that, Lady Gray left. Darjeeling then gestured to the Riley Nine Falcon waiting for them, "Shall we Captain?"

Scott nodded and hopped in the front passenger seat while Darjeeling drove. They didn't get that far before Darjeeling asked, "I hope you don't mind the question…" with Scott giving a gesture to continue, "... but why _The Soldiers of the Old Home Guard_?"

Scott shrugged, "Symbolism mostly, it kind of describes British attitudes to defending the Home Islands during the Second World War and most of my boys rarely want to give an inch during battles. Though with that said, there are other songs that the boys will fire up, depending on their mood."

"Oh? Such as?" Darjeeling asked.

"Well, _Rule Britannia_ for one. Then I suppose _March of the British Grenadiers_ as well as _Men of Harlech_ , though they'll actually sing those two. Occasionally I'll hear _There Will Always Be An England_ , though that is when the boys are feeling a little homesick." Scott replied.

Darjeeling smiled a little, "You guys have a slightly more diverse taste in music than us," she said. When Scott raised a questioning eyebrow, she continued, "All we've listened to is _March of the British Grenadiers_. One could say, it's our theme."

Scott was intrigued, it had been years since he had talked this long about music, and he didn't want it to stop, "Which version though, Vocals or Instrumentals?"

"Instrumental with a slight twist," she replied.

"Oh?"

Darjeeling nodded, "One line of Flute, then a line of Flute joined by a drum, followed by two brass lines."

Scott was amused, "Normally I've only heard the Drum and Fife version, granted, the lyrics were in there as well, but still. I'll be listening to it when it gets played."

"Musician?" Darjeeling asked.

Scott nodded, "Instrumental and Vocals." then he paused, "Perhaps, another day, a demonstration is in order?"

Darjeeling felt the blood rush to her ears. Surely he wasn't suggesting that he would serenade her, was he? Regardless, she kept a calm façade and simply replied, "That would be lovely Captain."

Scott nodded to himself, then spoke, "For simplicity's sake, please, call me Scott, if I may, in turn, have the privilege to refer to you simply as Darjeeling?"

Darjeeling fought down the blush that was threatening to form, and only just managed to keep her voice level, "Of course, Scott," she then said, "You are quite the gentleman Scott, I won't lie, I was expecting more roguish behaviour from you and your boys."

Scott shrugged, "With the boys, remember, Buckingham Protocols. As for myself though," here Scott paused, as if reliving something, "Let's just say that it's been ingrained since childhood." then he sighed, "I am not looking forward to introducing certain members of our Sensha-dō team to yours."

Darjeeling was concerned and Scott continued, "We've got a big headed idiot who is only on the team because his father threatened to pull funding from the school, thinks the world revolves around him and that he is 'God's Gift to Girls', his words, an all 'round prick if I'm being generous. Moreover, he has a grudge against me since I was given Command, even though I'm two years his senior and have been doing this sort of thing for much longer than he," he then turned his head to Darjeeling and she to him, "If he causes any trouble, I'll gladly send him back to Britain, but the report must come from you or Headmistress Lady Gray. He would spin a report filed by me as a grudge and attempt to get me dismissed."

Darjeeling nodded and they continued the drive in relative silence, but they had only been a minute away anyways.

They entered the room and Scott was blown away at everything, Darjeeling, however, began explaining things, "This office is a mirror image of my own, considering that it's just through that door," She remarked as she pointed at a door that was off to the side, on the opposite side of the room to another, to which Darjeeling pointed, "A bathroom is in there so you can freshen up after training. Books to your heart's desire, and if you want different ones, just ask, we'll swap them out," Then she stopped at the window at the back, "And a lovely view of the training grounds to top it off." she then turned to see Scott just looking around. "Is something wrong?" she asked.

Scott shook his head and just stood there, Darjeeling walked over to him and saw tears in his eyes. Without thinking, she took his arm to offer support, at that, she looked into his eyes and saw that he was trying to lock up whatever was bothering him, he was only partially successful. "The nicest place I ever had to work in before this was the tank, which doubled as an office of sorts for me." he then sighed, "Some nights, when I was just starting, I would end up sleeping in the tank, not by choice either."

Darjeeling was shocked, "What happened?" she asked.

Scott screwed his eyes shut, trying to block the memories, but failing, "There is only one entrance to the bunkhouse, and many nights, while I would be performing maintenance, they would lock me out, while knowing full well I was out there, and in most cases, coming in."

Darjeeling could hardly imagine what he was saying happening at St Gloriana, there was a sense of comradery that was clearly missing where Scott and the boys were schooled.

* * *

Nothing else was said between them as Scott was recomposing himself and Darjeeling offering silent support. Soon 12:00 came around, and Scott left to speak with his boys, while Darjeeling went to her own office to think. However, all hopes of being able to quietly contemplate what had just transpired were dashed when Rosehip, Assam, and Orange Pekoe entered her office, "So Darjeeling," began Assam, "Tell us about him."

Darjeeling didn't say anything for the longest time, but eventually, she looked up with sad eyes, "I have never met a person who has had a life in which they were bullied more severely, and I suspect that I have only scratched the surface."

The girls looked at each other, unsure of what to say. Soon Darjeeling spoke again, "He did, however, warn me of a person whose personality I feared would come, but told me that he could take care of it, as long as the report came from me or the Headmistress. However, I would not be surprised if this is the same person that is Scott's chief tormentor."

Assam raised an eyebrow, "Scott, huh? They're here less than a day, and already you're on a first name basis with the Commander."

Darjeeling allowed herself to roll her eyes, "He insisted for the sake of simplicity," she said, before she muttered softly, "After he promised to sing to me one day."

Grins broke out on their faces, and Rosehip replied, "Oh he did, did he? So the Commander is clearly Darjeeling's, I wonder if we can snag any of the others?"

It was a testament to how distracted Darjeeling was when you considered that she didn't even respond to Rosehip's comment. Instead, she looked out her window, choosing to observe the boys driving the Centurion around the training grounds. The Scott that she saw in the Commander's hatch was a different one to the one she saw earlier, more confident and certain for sure.

* * *

Scott had seemed to recover from what happened in the office, but Joshua could tell that something had happened, even if he wouldn't say anything about it. Suddenly, Scott spoke up, "Foster, let's try taking her off the beaten path, shall we? That suspension needs a proper test after the boys back home replaced it."

Foster nodded, "Right ya are Lord, might wanna pop in, just in case."

Scott did so, and off they went, Stanley handed him a cup of tea, which Scott accepted, "Thanks Stan, which blend?"

Stanley shrugged, "I figured you could use a cup of Darjeeling, it is your favourite tea after all."

Scott raised an eyebrow, "I'm going to have to get used to the fact that the best tea and our commander share the same name."

Foster agreed, "Ay Lord, speaking of which, did ye warn her about Archibald?"

Scott nodded, "I did, though I didn't name him, I just described him and warned her as to the situation."

Joshua smirked, "Were ye generous or honest about the wanker?"

Scott shrugged, "I was generously honest, in that, I told her he was an all 'round prick and that was generous for me."

The boys belted out laughing at that and Foster nearly hit a tree because of it, "Oi, Foster! We only got her out of the shops a week ago, don't wreck the tank!" Stanley joked.

Foster had the good grace to look abashed, "Sorry 'bout that Lord,"

Scott waved him off, "Eh, don't worry about it, didn't happen, plus the Centurion is a tough girl, she'll handle most any tree."

Joshua chuckled, "We're not going anywhere near California then and their Redwoods."

They all had a good chuckle about that, then Joshua decided to broach the topic, "So Milord, what happened when you went off with the Lady of St Gloriana?"

Scott shrugged, "Nothing much, we talked about Music for the majority of the time, then I warned her about Archibald."

Foster was flabbergasted, "Is that all?"

Stanley smacked him upside the head, "Hey, not everyone can keep Lord's interest in any topic, much less keep talking about Music with him."

Scott grunted, "Eh, you and the boys will have to strike up _March of the British Grenadiers_ when it's the Pre-Match, it's like their theme apparently as well as the only song the team listens to," then he chuckled, "I think Stan's going to get an opportunity to expand their background before the rest of us though."

Stanley was confused, "Eh? What are you talking about Milord?"

Scott started full on laughing, "Oh come now," he said when he could breathe again, "You didn't notice the eyes Pekoe; the Loader for the Gloriana Flag Tank, was making at you? It was as if the rest of us didn’t exist once you showed your face."

Stanley had an utterly clueless expression on his face, which only set Scott off again. In turn, the rest of the boys started as well, but in the back of Scott's mind, a timer was ticking down, a timer for how long he had until the others arrived. It was at one week…


	2. Chapter 2

After driving around for a few hours, Scott and his boys went to the dining hall and joined Darjeeling, Orange Pekoe, Assam, and Rosehip for the evening meal. Much to Joshua's amusement, Scott ended up sat next to Darjeeling and Stan ended up next to Pekoe. Joshua nudged his brother and the look Foster gave him told him all he needed to know, for he also found it amusing. However, there was little time to digest it as Scott opened the conversation, "Darjeeling, what would you say to a little friendly training competition, your tanks against our Centurion?"

Darjeeling raised an eyebrow, "What do you have in mind?" she asked.

Scott shrugged, "I figured that perhaps, at the minimum, what you had against Ōarai would be good. I mean the Matildas and the Churchill will struggle."

Rosehip was confused, "What are you talking about?"

Joshua interjected, "The Matildas are using the 2 pounder with the Littlejohn Mk II?" he asked, to which Darjeeling nodded, "And the Churchill is using the Quick-Firing 75mm?" again, Darjeeling nodded, "There you have it. Records show that the 2 pounder at one kilometre has an average pen of 79mm whilst the QF75mm has 63mm at the same distance, compare that to the fact that the Centurion has anywhere from 51 to 152mm of armour and a gun that can punch right through your armour on the Matildas and the Churchill's anywhere but the front."

Scott rolled his eyes, "Josh, you know that engagements for Sensha-dō rarely exceed thirty metres or so, but that wasn't what I was talking about, we're a good deal faster than your tanks Darjeeling, and even if you decided to use the Crusaders then we've still got the advantage off-road," suddenly a thought came to him, "Darjeeling, I understand you've got somewhat of a speed demon on the team."

Darjeeling smirked and Rosehip blushed, "Yes I do indeed."

Scott nodded, "Good, because I've got a spare Comet A34 coming with the other boys, she can top out at about 32 miles an hour, and a better gun to boot."

Rosehip's eyes sparkled, but the boys looked at him oddly, "Milord? Where did they find a spare to send?" Foster asked.

Scott simply said, "Bovington." and all the boy's faces lit up.

Foster spoke up, "Is your sister coming as well?"

Scott nodded and they cheered, but then Scott pointed at Foster, "For God's sake man, tell Jasmine how you feel, else you'll have more to worry about than just the tank."

Foster turned the colour of tomatoes as the others shared a laugh at his expense. "Try doing it yourself," He muttered.

Scott simply looked at his driver, before looking down and sighing, "I may not know what it is like to hold your heart in your hands, being vulnerable in that way, and go before someone who has the potential to shatter it, but I do know the pain of waiting too long to say something. It is that pain I wish to spare both you and my sister, for when they say that a 'death by a thousand cuts' is the worst pain one can feel, I feel as though they have never been in love before but been too scared to say anything and so the person of their affections found their own person, leaving them with a broken heart to which they must pick up the pieces. Alone." he whispered.

At that, Scott stood and left, without touching any of his food. Joshua's palm made contact with his forehead, "Bugger, I thought we have gotten past this point months ago."

Darjeeling was concerned, "Lieutenant? What are you talking about?"

Joshua sighed, and mentally debated with himself, "I normally shouldn't and wouldn't mention this," then he looked at Darjeeling and saw a myriad of emotions playing on her face before continuing, "Several years ago, Scott was good friends with a girl, I can't for the life of me remember her name, but something happened a few months ago and she became cold and distant, and because of that, Scott slowly lost touch with her. From what he's told me, he was heartbroken at losing her friendship, but with what he said just now, I suspect he felt something more for her." he then sighed, "Anytime that the boys ever joked about her, Scott would up and leave. He had been getting better, even seemed to be 'healed' if that is the right term for it, but it seems not."

A few moments passed before Darjeeling rose and grabbed both her and Scott's trays. "Where are you going?" Asked Assam.

Darjeeling simply stated, "Someone has to look after him in that state he is in." before leaving the hall herself.

A stunned silence came over the group before Assam broke it, "I was right it seems, she is his and he is hers."

Joshua nodded, "I could see that when we sat down, Scott has never sat by anyone if he could help it, and normally he would sit between me and my brother if he couldn't. This time though, he went straight for Lady Darjeeling. He is, from my perspective, hoping for a strong friendship at the very least, but I think it more likely that he is smitten with her."

Foster nodded and spoke up, "Now the challenge will be to get both of them to see it and, more importantly, act upon it."

Rosehip smirked and Assam got a glint in her eye, "Leave Darjeeling to us, we have a plan."

Joshua raised an eyebrow, "Let's hear it then," he said.

Rosehip, though, shook her head, "Not here," She whispered, "Too many ears."

Joshua shrugged, "Garage then? It should be empty about now."

The girls nodded and they stood, but Pekoe and Stanley remained sitting. Rosehip was about to say something when Joshua shook his head, "Let's see where this goes," He whispered. And so they left Stan and Pekoe in the hall.

* * *

Down several halls, Darjeeling ran into Scott in his office, looking over the grounds. At first, she thought that maybe he hadn't heard her enter, but when she set the trays on a table surrounded by chairs, he spoke, startling her, "'Oh! What a tangled web we weave. When first we practice to deceive.' sometimes the deception is so good you start to believe it yourself."

Darjeeling quirked her head, "Sir Walter Scott's _Marmion_ , is it not?"

Scott turned, a surprised look on his face, "Why yes it is. I see you're a student of culture Darjeeling."

She just shrugged, "Those who forget the past, are doomed to repeat it."

"George Santayana, impressive. Not many of our generation listen to his teachings." he sighed, before walking over to the plush chairs and taking one and gesturing for her to do the same. His hand were folded in a way that screamed tense, but what struck Darjeeling was the solitary tear running down his cheek, soon Scott began to speak again, "I'm guessing Joshua told you and the girls a portion of the story?"

Darjeeling nodded, "Yes, though he couldn't remember her name."

Scott looked away, "That's not surprising, considering I never told him." much to his surprise, he felt a hand on his and saw Darjeeling offering her support. Needing to grasp reality in some way as to not get lost in memories, he clasped his around her's and continued, "Her name will probably surprise you, but years ago, I had fallen for Nonna, but after the fight with Kuromorimine during the 62nd National High School Sensha-dō Tournament, she distanced herself and changed so much that I could not recognise her." he then sighed, "It was painful, but I have come to terms with things and am moving on with my life. I just can't bear to see another person in that position."

Suddenly, it was as if a light bulb had gone off in Darjeeling's head, "That explains things then, I was wondering why she seemed more distant last year."

Scott nodded, "She was ashamed at the victory she had won for Pravda and when Kuromorimine rejected the offer of a rematch that Katyusha suggested. Well, I think that is when I lost any chance of getting through to her as she started to treat most people with contempt. Well, all but Katyusha that is."

Darjeeling shook her head, "I'm so sorry Scott, I may not know even a portion of your pain, but I hope that I can be someone that you will come to trust enough to help carry some of that burden."

Scott shook his head, "No," he said, "This burden I carry is too much for anyone to see." he paused, more tears slipped out of his eyes but he soon spoke again, "When someone hears of even half of my troubles, the suggestion of committing me to an institute is bandied about, so I've kept mum on it."

Darjeeling shook her head, before looking Scott in the eyes, "Sometimes the strongest man is not the one that keeps everything in, but the one who allows others to see and share the troubles he has."

Scott sighed, "Perhaps you are right, I've just…" he said before they were interrupted by a knock on the door. And just like that, they separated from each other. "It's open!" Scott hollered while trying to keep the irritation out of his voice.

Much to their surprise, Stanley and Orange Pekoe entered the office, "Apologies Captain, but I can't find any of the boys and I had thought that maybe they had come up here." Stan said.

Scott furrowed his brows, deep in thought when Orange Pekoe spoke as well, "And I couldn't find any of the girls."

This time Darjeeling furrowed her brows, but before either of them could say anything, Stan suddenly thought of something, "Garage maybe?"

Scott sighed, "Probably Stan, just as they are probably raising all sorts of hell.," he turned to Darjeeling, "Shall we go with them and sort this out?"

Darjeeling nodded and they took off.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the garages, Rosehip and Assam were explaining their plan to Joshua and Foster. Both of whom were having a hard time believing that it was the best they could come up with, "Look, we're not saying it's a bad plan. In fact, with Pekoe and Stan, it will probably work, but you two don't know the lord like we do, he would see through it in a heartbeat and then we'd be set back to square one." Joshua was saying.

Rosehip was adamant though, "Come on, sending Pekoe and Stanley on a date with supervision from the commanders would work if they're not told that the other is coming!"

Foster shook his head, "Bloody hell, the Captain would figure it out, his deduction skills are on par with Sherlock Holmes. There is no hiding anything from him." he said before his face turned pink, "I should know." he finished.

Rosehip shook her head, "And that is why neither of you would persuade him, Assam would take care of Darjeeling while I get the Captain on board."

Joshua sighed, he didn't think that it would work, but was willing to humour them, "Alright, we'll try it your way first, then if that doesn't work, we'll come up with something else."

"So, I suppose, we should probably talk about something else, just in case." Rosehip remarked, then something came to mind, "Actually, I'm curious, how are you able to get a Centurion into Sensha-dō? I thought it was too modern to be used."

Joshua smirked, "The laws of the Sensha-dō state that any tank in production or service prior to August of '45 may be used, well, the Centurion entered service in May of '45, so it just makes the deadline. But besides that, there are new rules in the pipeline."

Soon Stan, Pekoe, Scott and Darjeeling entered the Garage where they found the girls showing the boys their Churchill VII. "Josh! Foster! What's going on!" Scott hollered.

Joshua turned to Scott, "Just showed the girls the Centurion and they've been showing us their tanks, Milord." he replied.

Scott was sceptical, "Forgive me if I don't believe you, considering you've got that same look about you as when you decided to try and surprise me with a birthday party and I played along, even though I figured it out rather quickly."

"Oi! I knew you were the worst person to plan that Josh!" Stan yelled.

Joshua shrugged, "Eh, I've learnt since then that I can't hide anything from you Milord, so I stopped trying."

Scott still seemed to doubt that was all they had done but came to accept it, "All right then," he said.

Assam spoke up, "Actually, you could answer one question for us."

Scott looked puzzled, "And that would be?"

Assam gestured to Joshua, "Well, you boys are from Yorkshire, are you not?"

Scott nodded, "Yes, our school is in Yorkshire," then a look of understanding came over him, "You're wondering why men from Yorkshire are dressed as a Scottish Napoleonic Regiment of Foot and Sir Arthur Wellesley?" to which all the girls nodded, and Scott grinned, "Well, the Halls are part Scottish, so Stan, not wanting to be left out, made the suggestion of wearing a Scottish Uniform. As for mine though, well, Wellington is a personal hero of mine."

The girls nodded and they continued to get to know each other until soon, Scott was left with Assam and Rosehip. It was then that they set their plan into motion, "Well, you were right to a degree earlier when you thought Joshua and us were up to something, but it didn't really involve you," Rosehip said.

Scott raised an eyebrow, "Continue."

Rosehip smirked, "You've seen Pekoe and your loader Stanley getting on famously," she said and Scott nodded, "Well, we thought that maybe a small push would be good for both of them."

Scott immediately caught on, "Are there any good places to go on a date on the ship?" he asked.

Assam smirked, all was going to plan, "Yes, there is an Italian restaurant, Mario's. It's down by your accommodations, they serve good food, and there are plenty of tables for you to be there but out of sight."

Scott nodded, then paused for a moment, "Do me a favour please, largely because I suspect you'd do this anyway, but, could you see about getting Lady Darjeeling there, without telling her that I'll be there." he asked.

Rosehip was shocked and Assam spluttered, "What, how?" was all she could say.

Scott smirked, "Your face said it all, besides, I wouldn't mind getting to know her better."

It took a little while for them to come out of their stupor, but when she did, Rosehip said, "You're smitten, aren't you!"

Scott merely shrugged, "I'll know the more I spend time with her."

Assam merely nodded and asked, "When shall we make the arrangements?"

Scott thought for a moment, "Today is Wednesday, make them for Friday, that at least gives us the weekend to die of humiliation should the worst happen."

Assam scoffed, "I highly doubt that would happen to either of you, but we'll make the arrangements."

Scott nodded and left the girls, little did they know, this simple date would have a far-reaching impact on everyone. Scott's internal clock sat at six and a half days…


	3. Chapter 3

Nothing remarkable happened until Thursday afternoon. Scott and his boys were working on their Centurion when Orange Pekoe, Assam, Darjeeling, Ruhuna and Rosehip walked into the garage themselves. Joshua immediately heard the girls and went over to the engine compartment, "Milord! The ladies have graced us with their presence!" he shouted to be heard over Scott's banging and cursing.

"Bloody engine! Remind me to slog the 'wise' man who thought putting a Layland L60 in here was a good idea!" Scott ranted before popping his head out, his face was covered in grease, so much so, there wasn't a clean spot on his face. What got the girls thinking though, was the fact that he was wearing a white shirt and there wasn't a stain on it. Scott then sighed, "Apologies ladies, some tosser back home thought that putting a non-historical engine in a tank, an engine that was prone to failures no less, was a good idea. I just hope Jasmine has a spare when they come on Wednesday, else you might not have a Centurion to command."

This was news for Darjeeling, "Huh?"

Scott nodded before jumping down, "The boys will answer to me who answers to you, therefore, all of the boys are under your command."

Whilst this was happening, a loud crash was heard, Joshua only sighed, "Oh for Christ's sake," he muttered.

Scott meanwhile had done something similar, "Not this again," he sighed, before turning to the tank, "Stanley! Are you alright in there?" he hollered.

All that was heard was a soft groan, this prompted Joshua, Foster and Scott to hurry to where the noise had emanated, "Stanley!" Joshua yelled, unlike before where Scott had sounded disappointed, now Joshua's voice sounded concerned and panicky which concerned the girls.

Scott wrenched open the loader's hatch and carried out Stanley and laid him down. Unlike normally, where Stanley's brown hair would have stood out against his fair skin, there were streaks of red running across his now pale skin. This elicited a squeak from Pekoe as her concern for Stanley increased dramatically. However, the most damning thing was the fact that Stanley's eyes were closed. Scott though, took over effortlessly, as if he had done this many times before, "Joshua, Medikit now! Foster, water. Girls I need a blanket and someone to have EMS on standby."

Joshua took off at a run for the Medikit that was in the garage's office and Foster ran for the water bottles they had brought with them. Ruhuna and Rosehip rushed off for the blanket whilst Assam brought out her phone, ready to dial for Emergency Medical Services if Scott ordered her to. Darjeeling though, went over to Scott, "How bad is it?" She asked.

Scott grimaced, "Head Wounds bleed a lot as is, add into it the fact that he is on blood thinners so any cut must be taken care of quickly," he replied before trailing off and looked at Pekoe. He then sighed, "I don't think he'll be well enough for his date tomorrow. Shame too, I was looking forward to being a silent watcher and his backup for it."

Darjeeling chose to deal with that statement one part at a time, "Does it really take that long for him to recover?"

Scott nodded sadly while Joshua came back with the Medikit, as Scott started bandaging Stanley's head, he remarked, "It can normally take up to a week for him to be back to where he was before his injury." he then finished wrapping Stanley's head, "There, if blood starts to seep through, we call EMS, give it about ten minutes," he remarked.

Darjeeling was confused, "What are you going to do?" she asked.

Scott turned to her, "I'm going to see what happened." he replied before popping into the tank.

He quickly found the problem, it seemed that, while loading a shell into the Ammo Rack, Stan tripped and hit his head on one of the various sharp edges in the tank. Darjeeling entered the tank soon after him, not at all done questioning him, but first, he explained what he believed happened. Darjeeling listened patiently, it did seem likely after all. But after Joshua and Foster took the rest of the girls and Stanley back to the gentleman's quarters, Darjeeling bit into him, "You were going on Stanley's and Pekoe's date?"

Scott was momentarily confused by that line of questioning but played along, "Yes, in fact, I asked Rosehip and Assam last night about a place for it, and they suggested…"

"Mario's, down by where you and the boys are, they wanted me to join Pekoe in the same capacity that you would have joined Stanley in." Darjeeling interrupted.

Scott then surprised Darjeeling by shrugging, "Probably because I asked them to ask you for me. Though I did ask them to make it not sound as a request from me." he then looked at her, "I did want to get to know you after all."

Darjeeling was having a hard time fight down her blush this time, her cheeks were a dusky pink. ' _He's just talking about fulfilling our duties to the team, that is all. Right?'_ however she did manage to say, "Well perhaps our plans can still go forward then?"

Scott flashed a smile at her, "I was about to ask the same thing, shall we say 19:00 tomorrow?" he asked and she nodded, "Attire? Formal, casual or casually formal?"

Darjeeling thought for a moment and Scott unconsciously held his breath, depending on how she answered would tell him the sort of relationship he would possibly have with her. Finally, she spoke, "Formal I think. Shall I meet you or you meet me?"

Scott released his breath, "I can meet you at your place, I'm sure the girls, at the very least Pekoe, will be at the lad's place so I can get directions later. In the meantime…" he trailed off as some of the other girls ran up to Darjeeling.

"Commander Darjeeling! Nilgiri's Matilda has flipped and we need some help!" one of the girls cried out.

Darjeeling and Scott immediately went into, what can only be described as, their 'Command Mode'. Darjeeling replied, "Calm yourself, actions made in haste will not help us here."

Scott then looked around the garage, "I don't see the recovery vehicle at all, we can use the Centurion but I'll need someone keeping an eye on that engine, I only just put it back together."

Thankfully though, the Centurion did start and took off at top speed towards where the girls said the Matilda had flipped. After a while, Darjeeling noticed smoke coming from the engine and tapped Scott on the shoulder and pointed at the engine, "Ah bloody hell! Darjeeling take over!" he shouted as he clambered out of his seat and rushed for the engine compartment. Thankfully the controls for the British tanks were relatively similar and Darjeeling was able to take over, albeit at a slower speed as Scott tinkered and bashed the engine into compliance.

Soon they reached the overturned Matilda and Scott sighed in relief. As Darjeeling and the girls stepped out, Scott felt a buzz in his pocket and so checked his phone. Joshua had texted him: 'Stan's awake, Pekoe's not leaving based entirely on the fact she never left his side, oh and Archibald pushed for the L60.'

'Tell Pekoe what needs to be done to take care of Stan, good that he's awake and I'm going to strangle Archibald, L60 nearly blew on the way to rescue flipped Matilda II. Need favour though, make sure my suit is cleaned and pressed, I am still heading for Mario's tomorrow.' Scott replied, hoping that Josh would get the message and let him work in peace.

* * *

Thankfully for Scott, Josh wasn't really anxious to bother him. The four boys shared an apartment and there were currently seven people in a unit that could barely handle the four boys on their own. It wasn't necessarily a problem for Stan, Pekoe hadn't left his side and the other five had more or less made a silent agreement to give them some space. Unfortunately, this meant that they were trying to be comfortable in the living area, and since there was only the one couch, Josh and Foster were left standing. Though they were distracted "I didn't believe she could do it!" Foster exclaimed, "How Orange Pekoe managed to carry Stanley up those flights of stairs and not break a sweat doing it I'll never understand."

Joshua though, he knew something his brother apparently didn't, "Ah brother of mine, Loaders are always stronger than they look, you should know that by now." then his phone buzzed and he looked at it, it was Scott's message. "Hmm, took care of that. Figured as much, oh!" His face took a very surprised look, "Well then." he muttered.

Assam was curious, "What is it?" she asked.

Josh put his phone away, "It seems as though Lady Darjeeling and Scott are still heading to Mario's tomorrow, and they are going in formal attire, considering that Scott wants me to make sure his suit is clean and pressed."

Rosehip was stunned, "Well, it seems as though our plan is working better than we expected." she remarked.

Ruhuna was confused, "Plan? What plan? And why are Lady Darjeeling and Captain Perkins going to Mario's?"

Assam smirked, "Ruhuna, we've seen that Captain Perkins and Darjeeling are, at the very least, smitten with each other. Indeed, when Rosehip and I talked with him last night, he mentioned that it was a possibility, but he didn't know enough. So our original plan was to send them with Pekoe and Cadet Stewart to Mario's on a double date, but now it seems as if it will just be a normal date."

Ruhuna looked as though the pieces fell into place, "I see, perhaps Darjeeling will lighten up on the unusual quotes then."

All of a sudden, both Josh and Foster belted out laughing, "Oh I'm sorry, but from what we've heard about your commander, Scott is just as bad, perhaps a bit more eccentric with his quotes." Foster replied after the girls gave them strange looks.

Josh nodded, "Too right brother, though he really likes to quote Shakespeare, though that might have to do with his 'Shakespeare's Syndrome' more than anything."

Assam furrowed her brows, "'Shakespeare's Syndrome'? What is that?"

Josh and Foster looked at each other, before Josh replied, "Well the good Captain is an amateur writer but in all of his works, most if not all of his main characters end up dead by the end of it. Much like Shakespeare did in his plays."

On and on they went, until, at 20:40, Scott walked through the door, worn out. "Ah, Milord! You're back. How'd it go?" Josh asked.

Foster handed him a cup of tea, which Scott accepted as if it was a precious metal, "Thank you, Foster, we got the Matilda back and I put the tracks back on it after running a full diagnostic on the engine." Then he flopped into an open chair and shut his eyes, "I only just managed to keep the Layland L60 from blowing up. I swear, once Archibald gets here, he is being put on maintenance for the Centurion until we get the Rolls-Royce Meteor back in." He saw some confusion on the faces of the girls, "The Layland L60 is a multi-fuel engine, great in theory because not all tank fuel is the same quality, but a failure in practice because it was said that for every one L60 in service, another dozen or so were in for repairs. Why Archibald thought that it was a good idea to put one in the Centurion even though it never carried it boggles me."

Foster's face grew very serious, "You know why Milord. He still holds a grudge over you for every slight against him, perceived or real."

Scott's face darkened and Joshua sighed, he knew what was coming and wasn't disappointed, "Bloody hell! You'd think there would be at least the smallest amount of respect! He's the Goddamn reason I'm a bloody orphan!" Scott yelled before setting his tea down and heading to his bunk, where he promptly drew the covers over his head and fell into a deep sleep.

Josh sighed, "Sorry about that girls, there is very little I can say due to how sensitive the matter is for him."

Assam nodded and Rosehip looked down, "It's alright Josh, when Darjeeling goes off, which is rare, we've learnt that the best thing to is to keep our mouths shut."

Ruhuna scratched her head, "We've got plenty of those Rolls-Royce Meteors lying about, why don't we swap the engines out?"

Foster banged his head on the table in the kitchen area, "Oh why didn't we think of that!"

Not bothering to figure that out, or tell Scott what they were doing, Assam, Josh, Rosehip, Foster and Ruhuna went to the garage where they spent the rest of the night, and a good chunk of the next morning swapping the Layland L60 with the spare Meteor.

* * *

The first thing Scott would remember about that day was the smell of bacon sizzling. He opened his eyes and dressed for the day, at least the morning. Upon fully waking up, Scott noticed that Stan's bunk was empty. 'He's probably making breakfast now.' Scott thought. However, upon entering the kitchen, Scott noticed that it was, in fact, Orange Pekoe making breakfast. "Good Morning Captain," she said.

"Morning Pekoe. I'm guessing you stayed here all night to make sure Stan was alright?" he replied with a grin forming on his face.

Both Pekoe and Stan blushed bright red, but they didn't deny it. Scott only smiled, "Well, just remember what I said Stan, and you'll do fine." he then looked around, "Out of curiosity. Where are the rest of the boys?"

Pekoe actually answered, "Assam texted me, they crashed in the garage after replacing your engine with a Rolls-Royce Meteor and she was going to text when they were up, but they haven't yet so I was making breakfast for everyone." she said as she set a plate of pancakes, bacon and scrambled eggs in front of Scott.

Scott looked at Stan, "I see you've told her how I like my eggs," he said as he took a bite, "Oh it's perfect! Many thanks to you Orange Pekoe."

The three of them quickly ate and went to the garage where they found an amusing sight. There, sprawled across Josh, was Assam, in, well, they could not have been in a more compromising position if they had tried. Josh was under Assam with one hand on her waist and the other in her hair. Assam, meanwhile, had her arms around Josh's waist. Josh's head on top of her's and every now and then, a soft hum came from them.

Thankfully, Foster, Ruhuna, and Rosehip had spread out and it was easy to wake them without waking Josh and Assam. Scott then looked at the group, "So, anything happen that I should know about?" he asked.

All three thought hard, trying to think of when something could have happened, but Foster summed it up best, "Sir. all that happened was us putting in the engine, then Josh fell asleep immediately afterwards and the rest of us followed. There were no possible chances for something to happen unless of course, they woke up in the middle of the night."

Scott nodded and tried to shake Assam or Josh awake, but failed. He sighed, "Rosehip, could you come over here to catch Assam if this works."

She looked at him curiously but did so. It became apparent what Scott meant, as he yelled, "Lieutenant Hall! To your post!"

Josh leapt up and, by some miracle, managed to not only not drop Assam, but get her to her feet as well. "Captain Perkins sir! I uh…"

Scott chuckled, "Quite the situation you've got yourself in there Josh. Well, breakfast is ready for you two, courtesy of Orange Pekoe."

All throughout their breakfast, neither Assam nor Josh could look at the other without turning the colour of a tomato, all while Scott, Pekoe and Stan were having a right good time poking fun at him. "Think of it as revenge for all those 'counselling sessions' you forced me to sit through," Scott told Josh when he asked why he was getting that treatment.

Josh pouted, "But those were needed!" he cried.

Scott huffed, "You and I have very different ideas about what I need," he replied, then he leaned in, "Besides, it's not like you're suffering."

If possible, Josh turned an even brighter shade of red. He knew he couldn't win against his commander, and he was right, he wasn't suffering at all, just embarrassed to high heaven.

Soon, Darjeeling entered the garage and noticed Assam and Josh attempts to match the colour of Rosehip's hair, "Scott? What is going on?" she asked.

Scott turned to Darjeeling, "Well, Orange Pekoe, Stan and I entered to give these worker bees breakfast and we found Assam on top of Joshua." he replied.

Darjeeling raised an eyebrow and the culprits hid their faces, they knew what was coming and surprisingly Pekoe spoke up, "Yes, Joshua had one hand on her waist and the other in her hair whilst Assam had both her hands around his waist. Quite romantic if you ask me."

Josh and Assam just wanted to get away, but Breakfast was keeping them there, then Stan chuckled, "And they made the most adorable hum as well."

Darjeeling smiled at Assam and Josh, "Did anything happen last night?"

Most shook their head, but Assam spoke up, "Well…"

* * *

_Josh had crashed almost immediately after putting the Meteor into the Centurion, most everyone else had as well, all except Assam. She was looking outside at the starry night. Internally, she wondered. Pekoe and Darjeeling had both snagged two of the boys with one of the other two already spoken for. Could it be possible for her to find "The One" or, as she believed was more likely, would she spend the rest of her days watching these experiences happening to her friends, but never to experience them herself? Unbeknownst to her, a tear slipped from her eye. All of a sudden, she heard rustling come from behind her, "What's got you upset on such a fine night Assam?" Joshua asked._

_Assam sighed, feeling and wiping away her tear, "It's nothing, you can go back to sleep Joshua," she whispered. 'Stay please' she thought though._

_Joshua seemed to hear her thoughts, "If it was nothing, you wouldn't be crying," he replied as he sat next to her. After a moment, he took her hand, "Please tell me, maybe I can help."_

_Assam sighed and scooted closer to Joshua, "It's just, I've been thinking, am I destined to be forever a hermit?"_

_Josh was confused at that, "What makes you say that?" he asked._

_Assam looked at him, 'He is rather dashing, but surely someone must have snagged him' she then asked, "Answer me this: do you have someone like your brother does?"_

_Josh sighed, "I wish," he whispered, he then looked out into the night, a small tear trailing down his face, "No, I am, much to my parent's surprise, still single."_

_This surprised Assam, "Surely someone must have tried though, right?"_

_Josh shrugged, "Possibly, I didn't notice them though." then he thought for a moment, "Though there is someone that I wouldn't mind if she took an interest in me."_

_Assam's face fell, "Who is she?" she asked, trying and failing to keep the disappointment out of her voice._

_Josh looked at her, "Well, I find her beautiful, smart, and even though most wouldn't agree with me, I find her jokes quite funny." he then nudged her, "In case it wasn't obvious, I'm talking about you."_

_They locked eyes for a moment before they closed them and shared their first kiss._

* * *

"... and that is what happened last night." Assam finished.

Scott nodded, "And you two," he pointed at Pekoe and Stan, "Aren't yet dating, right?"

Pekoe and Stan blushed but shook their heads. Scott then smirked, "Somehow, the Commandant was right, Josh was the first to lose his status as a single man." then he started laughing, "I've won two hundred and fifty quid thanks to that."

The boys were shocked, "Wait, what?" Stan asked.

Scott nodded and slowly got his laughter under control, "Yes," he replied, "I put fifteen quid on Josh being the first to get a girlfriend and somehow everyone forgot about his natural charisma and put money on either Foster or Stan, except for Commandant Jones, he put fifteen quid as well on Josh and we agreed to split the pot equally."

Foster then asked, "Well what about you? Did anyone put money on you?"

Scott sighed, "No because, according to Archibald, 'Scott has no romantic qualities about him' and every one of the boys believed him."

"What complete and utter rubbish!" Darjeeling exclaimed before clamping down on her mouth, realizing that she had just said that out loud.

Scott smiled at Darjeeling, "Well I'm glad you have faith in my qualities considering tonight."

Josh was still recovering from his embarrassment and didn't see the look that his brother exchanged with Stanley. They were wondering what was going on, Scott _never_ flirted. Yet here they were, watching as Scott flirted with Darjeeling. Darjeeling however, was on her way towards competing with Assam and Josh since she was turning as red as her uniform. Soon though, too soon for Darjeeling's liking, Scott stood up and walked to the Centurion, "Well boys, once you're done with breakfast, we need to take this engine for a spin, put it through its paces."

The boys hopped up and join Scott in the Centurion and drove off, leaving the girls in the garage. Darjeeling's disappointment must have shown on her face because Rosehip came up to her and said, "Don't worry Darjeeling, you've got all of tonight to be wooed."

Darjeeling turned to the young girls, "You know, something tells me this is what you all wanted; me to go on a date with him." she said before walking off to her office. Scott's internal clock sat at just over five days…


	4. Chapter 4

****Warning! The chapter contains dark themes from this point onwards, a * will denote the end of the dark section, you have been warned.** **

* * *

Come 14:00, Scott parted from the rest of the boys, he knew it would take some time to fully prepare for the date. Once he got back to their flat, Scott showered and shaved. Then came 16:00, with three hours to go, Scott began dressing. His suit comprised of his white shirt, black slacks, a lavender vest and a dusty purple blazer. At 18:00 Scott started the Riley Nine Falcon that had been provided for the boys and followed the directions that Orange Pekoe had given him that morning and soon came to the flat that Darjeeling, Pekoe, Assam and Ruhuna shared. Summoning his courage, Scott knocked on the door, where he was greeted by Pekoe, "Good Evening Captain, Darjeeling will be out in a moment, she's just putting the final touches on."

Scott smiled at her, "Thank you Pekoe, I'll just wait here then," he said gesturing to the entrance hall

Just then, Darjeeling entered and Scott didn't even try to keep his jaw from dropping. Her dress was a dark Byzantium colour and it was a single shoulder design, and she had a white rose corsage. Her skin was positively radiant and she seemed to float over to him. "Well?" She asked, smirking at him, "How do I look?"

Scott could barely think a coherent thought, but somehow managed to whisper, "Simply gorgeous Milady."

Darjeeling smiled, "Thank you, good sir," she replied before offering him her hand, "Shall we?"

Scott smirked, "We shall." he said as he took her hand.

* * *

So they were off to Mario's. Their waiter sat them in an elegant booth and left them with their menus. After they had both ordered, Darjeeling spoke up, "I heard you had a bit of a blow-up last night," Scott's face fell, "Would you like to talk about it?" she asked.

Scott sighed, he knew that he would have to eventually, "I suppose I should," he then thought back to when it all started…

* * *

_Ten years prior, when Scott was Five years old, his birth parents took him to the Talyllyn Railway on a day trip to visit some family friends. Scott loved trains, the Talyllyn Railway more so considering its significance to preserved railways. They were at Dolgoch Falls when it happened. His parents leaned back against the fence at the falls viewing platform when it suddenly gave way, Scott could do little as he watched his parents plummet to their deaths._

* * *

"...We were on our way to meet Archibald's family up in Abergynolwyn when that happened, thankfully for me, another family, the Dawson family of Yorkshire adopted me as their son to give their daughter Jasmine an older brother." Scott finished. He then leaned back in his chair, looking at Darjeeling. All throughout his story, she had said nothing and partway through his story, she took his hand. He then continued, "It's childish of me to blame him, I know. And, to be fair, I did try to forget, but then, when I joined up at the Yorkshire School for Young Gentlemen and he followed and began tormenting me, it makes it difficult."

"There's only so much one person can take Scott before they start to crack," Darjeeling replied.

Before they could say any more, the waiter returned to take their orders. Scott ordered spaghetti whilst Darjeeling ordered Carbonara. After he left, Scott said, "Sorry about just unloading my turmoil onto you."

Darjeeling shrugged, "Well, I did ask." she replied, before smiling at him, "We did want to get to know each other before everyone else shows up. And this is the best time to do it."

Scott nodded, "Four days, fourteen hours, and four minutes until they arrive."

Darjeeling smirked, "That internal clock is just that accurate?"

Scott chuckled, "Only when it wants to be. I can tell you exactly when the next train will leave London's Paddington station for Bristol, but I couldn't say how long we were practising without keeping a stopwatch on me."

Darjeeling raised an eyebrow, "Oh, and just when will the next train leave Paddington for Bristol?" she asked.

"Well, taking into account the fact that we are about eight hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time, and it's 19:26, then in precisely seven minutes the next train will leave for Bristol Parkway and arrive at its destination two hours and seven minutes later, provided there are no delays." he replied as she checked her phone.

Darjeeling was amazed to discover that he was correct, but he waved it off, "Useless facts crammed in here," he said tapping his head.

Darjeeling scoffed, "It can't all be useless facts." she muttered.

But Scott just shrugged, "Perhaps, though I've been told that that is all I've got."

Darjeeling scowled, "Archibald?" she asked and Scott nodded, "I'm not sure I can work with him on the Sensha-dō team with all he's done to you."

Scott sighed, "Unfortunately, there is nothing I can do. His father wields significant influence with the Board of Education and threatened to direct funding elsewhere if his son wasn't put on the new Co-Ed team."

Darjeeling sighed and Scott sat back up, "You know, I asked you out so we could get to know each other, not depress ourselves."

Darjeeling blushed slightly, ' _Is he flirting with me?'_ she wondered. Then she looked him in the eye, "Scott," she began, drawing his attention to her, "You said 'asked out' and normally that's only used between prospective boyfriends and girlfriends."

Scott nodded, "Yes, I know," he said, before dropping his eyes to his folded hands in his lap, then he looked back up, "I've been more open to you then I've been to Joshua, and I know you've read our dossiers and you know that Josh is kind of our counsellor so he knows the most out of all the people that have and will come from Yorkshire. And there is something inside of me, something I haven't felt in a long time, telling me what it is that makes me feel so comfortable around you."

Darjeeling was only partially shocked, she had deduced most of it for herself, but it was that he felt something that shocked her, and he continued, "Jasmine says that it doesn't take more than a single look from me to determine how I'll treat someone, and in that way, I guess you could say that it only took a single look for me to fall in love."

Darjeeling's heart sped up considerable, Scott's body language, his tone and his words all came to a single point, he was confessing that he had fallen for her. At this point, the waiter arrived with their food and beat a hasty retreat, sensing that this was a private conversation.

Scott didn't touch his food yet, Darjeeling had deduced it correctly, he had fallen for her. And was waiting for her to say something, and say something, she did, "Scott, if you would have me, would you be my boyfriend?" she asked.

Scott smiled, "Yes Darjeeling," he replied, bring his hand up and enclosing in around her hand. An hour, and two Profiterole later, the new couple walked around the ship's streets. Darjeeling properly showing Scott around while he tries to soak it all in. Eventually, Scott speaks, "This is so very different from Yorkshire, but I find myself thankful for that fact. I feel as though I'm actually out in the world than in my little corner of England."

Darjeeling wrapped her arm around his and looked up at him, the moonlight catching his brown hair and sea-shade eyes just at the right angle. Scott looked down into her eyes and his insides went gooey, not even when he was crushing on Nonna had he felt anything this strong.

Years later, it would still be debated what exactly occurred, Scott would claim that Darjeeling made the first move while Darjeeling would say the opposite. Whatever actually happened, with the moon as their backdrop, Darjeeling and Scott brought their lips together and shared their first kiss.

Time seemed to slow for them as they stood there, arms holding the other, lips and hands intertwined. Soon though, they broke off for air, Scott a bit more breathless than Darjeeling and neither could say anything, but no words were required, they had poured every ounce of love into that kiss they had and the message had been received by the other. They just stood there for quite a while, foreheads together, before they heard a clock chime midnight and startled them. Scott looked up, "Gordon Bennett, midnight already?" he exclaimed.

Darjeeling sighed, "So it would seem, though it doesn't feel like three hours already," she complained.

Scott though chuckled, "Now whose internal clock is messed up."

Darjeeling had a good chuckle as well, then she thought for a moment, "I wonder what everyone's reaction will be?"

Scott smiled, "Well, I can almost assure you that Josh, Foster and Stan will be ecstatic that I've found someone so they can tease me relentlessly." he said. Darjeeling giggled at that, "Though turnabout will be fair play, as for your girls though, well, I know that Assam and Rosehip wanted this outcome since they originally approached me with the idea of shadowing Stan and Pekoe on a date tonight and I could tell that they were thinking of setting me up with you."

Darjeeling smiled at Scott, "Well we set ourselves up quite well now didn't we?"

Scott smiled back and nodded, "Indeed we did, Milady." he replied as he bowed to her.

* * *

On and on they went until they got back to Darjeeling's flat at 00:15. Scott and Darjeeling stood at the front entrance to the flat, "Well Scott, I've had a wonderful time tonight." Darjeeling told him.

Scott smiled at her, "I did as well Darjeeling, perhaps we could do this again sometime?" he asked.

Darjeeling nodded, "I'd love that Scott."

Before she turned in for the night, they shared a good night kiss and she watched Scott drive off. Thankfully for her, Assam, and Ruhuna were both asleep and Orange Pekoe was staying with the boys to keep an eye on Stanley, allowing her to change into her nightclothes without being bombarded by all the questions she knew she would face in the morning.

Scott though, was driving back to his flat, ' _I wonder what the others got up to?_ '

* * *

While Scott was out with Darjeeling; Joshua, Foster, Assam, Ruhuna, and Rosehip were sitting around the girl's living room, eating a stew the boys had prepared while Pekoe and Stan were elsewhere. "This is an amazing stew, who cooked?"

Forster grinned, "Well, Josh and I did the hard work, but it's all Stan's recipe."

Josh nodded, "Yes, Stan learned it from his parents and taught it to us when we first met," then he looked around, "Speaking of him, where is he?"

* * *

Orange Pekoe and Darjeeling knew exactly where he was; he was with Pekoe at the boys' flat having a pseudo-date since he had promised that he would be with her that night. She had come after Scott had left and she was making sure he was comfortable. Though he wasn't in any discomfort, he grew tired easily and Pekoe could see this, so she had decided that she would take care of him until the other girls got back. Stan though, had a question, "Just how stunned was the Captain when Darjeeling came to greet him?" he asked.

Pekoe giggled, "Oh he was speechless, that's for sure. I was tempted to close his mouth for him when she came out but decided against ruining the moment."

Stan chuckled, "I've never heard of anyone making him speechless before," he said, then he looked upwards, "Well, Rose and Duncan, you can rest easy now, someone is going to take care of your boy."

Pekoe's face fell, "His parents?" she asked and Stan sadly nodded, "It feels like he has had a difficult life," she whispered.

Stan sighed, "He's probably told Darjeeling some of the story but that is another reason why we were hoping for this outcome, he desperately needed someone in his life so he doesn't make a grave mistake."

Pekoe gasped, "Do you believe he would have done that?"

Stan sighed again, "Unfortunately until now, he never really had a reason to ensure he came out of fights alive. Thankfully that has changed, but it may take some time for him and us to adapt to this."

Pekoe nodded sadly, she knew that one date would not change behaviour overnight, but at least there was hope, "Well, I think we've depressed ourselves enough for one night," she said before smiling at him, "Shall I make some food?"

Stan smiled, "That would be lovely," he replied.

* * *

Back with Josh, Foster, Assam, Rosehip and Ruhuna, Foster shrugged, "Eh, if I had to guess, he's probably somewhere with miss Pekoe, but I'm not too worried about him."

Josh sighed, he knew what his brother was getting at, "Archibald?"

Foster nodded, "His father wields too much power. A prick like him running around a ship that has a mostly female population! I shudder thinking about it."

Josh nodded while the girls started to look concerned, "Remember though, I'm sure that if anyone breaks the Buckingham Protocols then the Headmistress will not hesitate to send them back to Britain, he won't last long."

Foster shuddered, "Yes, but what will send him back is what concerns me."

Assam frowned, "Can he really so troublesome yet still go to school with you?"

Josh sighed, "Normally, no. However, his father is the Marquess of Essex and holds considerable sway in Parliament's House of Lords whilst his mother is on the Board of Education for Yorkshire."

The girls looked at each other, and they all knew, it would backfire on him quickly. Especially if he went after the person that would get to Scott the most, Darjeeling.

They talked for sometime after until the boys went home.

* * *

***** End of dark part *** **

* * *

Scott pulled into their flat's parking lot and switched off the engine. He didn't think it could have gone better, and he was right. As he climbed the stairs, his mind wandered, wondering what his parents, his birth parents, would have thought of Darjeeling. Soon though, he entered the flat proper and started shedding his outer layers, his blazer and vest, when he heard a voice, "Well? How'd it go?" Stan asked.

Scott turned and smiled when he saw Pekoe asleep on Stan's shoulder, an action that Stan had not seen him do often, and replied, "I'd say it went well, though I suppose I would considering I'm now the second taken man of our little group, maybe the third, in any case, it doesn't matter as the premise is the same, I'm now taken."

Stan smiled, "Second Milord, I've not worked up the courage to directly ask her yet,"

Scott placed a hand on his free shoulder, "Stan, I don't think you have anything to worry about, if I can do this, you should have no problem." he then turned towards the restroom, "And don't forget, she won't wait forever for you. After all, Love is patient, but it shouldn’t be kept waiting. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to change."

Leaving Stan in the main room, Scott changed into sleep clothes and fell asleep quickly without the others asking anything.

* * *

Later that morning, Scott woke up and looked around, the clock showed 11:00 and there was no one in their bunks, "Hmph, I never sleep in, though I suppose getting back at oh one hundred does shift the sleep schedule a bit." he muttered to himself.

Setting himself about his day, he took his morning shower and dressed in a short-sleeved shirt and trousers and walked out to find no one in the flat, "Hmph, guess I'll have some quiet…" he mused before he heard a knock at the door.

Curious, Scott opened it and saw Darjeeling standing there, "Good morning Scott," she said while embracing him.

This caused Scott to smile, "Morning Darjeeling, sorry I wasn't up earlier."

Darjeeling smiled, "That's alright, I only just woke up myself," he then pulled her in and they stood there for a while, just holding each other. Eventually, they kissed each other. When they parted, Scott smiled and Darjeeling spoke, "Last night wasn't a dream then, thank goodness."

Scott smirked, "No it most definitely wasn't," he then loosened his grasp on her and said, "I'm sure our friends are probably wondering what happened and I only told Stan a partial of the story. Shall we go find them and get the Inquisition done with?"

Darjeeling giggled, "At least we are expecting it," she replied.

Scott nodded and chuckled and they set off for the garage, where they assumed most of their friends would be. Not at all surprisingly, they were right, also not surprising was that Assam and Josh were nowhere to be seen. Scott smirked, "Should we be concerned that Josh and Assam aren't here?"

Foster smirked, "Probably not, the worst they could be doing is snogging each other's face off."

Scott glared at Foster, "Hasn't anyone taught you that there is such a thing as too much information?"

Foster instead, just shrugged and Scott rolled his eyes, "Well, that most certainly was more information than was needed, Cadet." Darjeeling said.

Foster grimaced, "Yes Commander, sorry Commander."

Scott shook his head, "In any case, would we be correct in assuming that you all wish to interrogate us about last night?"

Everyone smirked and immediately, Scott and Darjeeling knew it was going to take a long time. And they were right, by the time 14:30 came around they finally had answered most of the questions that had been asked of them. Josh and Assam had come in at noon and joined the Inquisition and it was Assam who asked the final question, "Did you two kiss?"

Scott smirked, he knew that question would be asked, "Yes in fact," he replied, "Several times."

Darjeeling had a faint smile on her face, remembering the moment in vivid detail. "It was quite romantic indeed, the moon itself was our backdrop."

All of the girls made a cooing sound and the boys looked at Scott whom just shrugged, "The bar has been set gentlemen, it is up to you how you traverse it."

Scott smirked as he watched Pekoe and Assam turn to their partners and give them the 'I want' look that most men would recognize. All the while Scott's internal clock sat at three days nineteen and a half hours…


	5. Tanks: St Gloriana

****Hey Guys, just laying out what tanks you will be seeing in the arsenals of each school. I will be doing this before each battle with each school. As you would imagine an inventory report to be like.** **

****St Gloriana** **

****Churchill VII-Flag Tank, Commander Darjeeling** **

****Matilda II x4, Notable Commander: Rukuriri** **

****Crusader III x3, Notable Commander: Rosehip** **

****Cromwell VII x10 (note: current numbers include ones slated for upgrade)** **

****Yorkshire School for Young Gentlemen** **

****Centurion Mk III-Flag Tank, Commander Scott Perkins** **

****AT2 Tank destroyer x2, Notable Commander: Archibald Evans** **

****FV304 x4, Notable Commander: Terre Robbins** **

****A34 Comet x2** **

****A34 Comet (on loan from Bovington Tank Museum), Commander Jasmine Dawson** **


	6. Chapter 6

The training battle that Scott had suggested would take place Sunday morning, and, as such, Scott and Darjeeling met early in the morning to discuss it. They were in Scott's office, drinking tea and having their breakfast. Darjeeling looked up at Scott, his uniform surprisingly comfortable, "You're sure your boys can handle this?"

Scott smirked, "I see this heading one of two ways," he said, "Either your girls will see that we won't be a burden, or my boys will get the wind knocked out of their sails and not be so cocky like some of the others back home were."

Darjeeling leaned back into his arms, "And which do you think will happen?" she asked.

Scott wrapped his arms around her, "We're outnumbered five to one and while your tanks are weaker in terms of armour, your girls are battle-hardened, something my boys aren't, we've never been in any sort of competition. So my money is on you girls," he replied.

Darjeeling raised an eyebrow, "Even though you've got a 20 pounder?"

Scott nodded, "Yes, experience outranks everything."

Darjeeling chuckled, "Using Star Wars quotes against me?"

This time, it was Scott that raised an eyebrow, "Huh?"

Darjeeling just shook her head, "Never mind, we've got one movie and about a hundred odd episodes of a series to watch,"

Then recognition registered in Scott's eyes, "Oh! The Clone Wars, now I remember. I forgot because of the bollocks that was the modern era of Star Wars,"

Darjeeling scoffed, "Let us forget the modern stuff, but we digress. The match today, you believe you will lose all because my girls have more experience in competition?"

Scott nodded, "All we have done have been practices between ourselves which are quite one-sided, even with the fact that we have Comets, AT2s and FV304s, it usually ends with a victory for either my tank or the tank crew we call 'Bert One' in an FV304," at Darjeeling's raised eyebrow, he continued, "Lieutenant Robbins' Tank, one of the few female students the board let into the school, what she does is she turns the FV304 into a mix between a Tank Destroyer and an SPG, but the main reason I bring her up is also because she is one of the only other people outside of my crew to defend me," then he smirked, "She'll be happy we're together, it'll put an end to the rumours, that's for certain."

Darjeeling looked up at him, "Rumours?"

Scott chuckled, "In my first year, She and I became close friends and the rumours that she and I were seeing each other got started when the boys and I started eating lunch with her. That was quite false and only served to infuriate her, and an angry Terre is a dangerous one."

Darjeeling nodded, "She sounds like an older sister the way that you portray her."

Scott agreed, "Yes, and I have told her as such and she agrees," then he let out a humourless laugh, "Also said in the same breathe that she did not want any form of romance."

Darjeeling was amused, "And you think otherwise?"

Scott nodded, "I know so, she just hasn't met 'The One' yet,"

Darjeeling gave a quick nod, then realised they were off track again, "We're good at digressing, aren't we?"

Scott chuckled, "Indeed we are my dear, but I think we've got the main points hammered out."

And indeed they did, and a good thing too, for each of Darjeeling's commanders chose that moment to enter the office with visible confusion as to why they were meeting in a different office on their faces. So Scott leaning over and whispered into her ear, "I'll get the boys started, you better brief them," before giving her a quick kiss on the cheek and leaving the room.

Darjeeling smiled and almost forgot about briefing the girls, but she recomposed herself and saw the expectant looks on their faces "Alright ladies, let's get this out of the way first: yes, the leader of the boys and I are together and have been since Friday evening. Now, with that out of the way, today's training will consist of a mock battle with our Matilda squadron and Churchill VII against their Centurion, keep in mind, the Centurion is using the 20 pounder gun, meaning if they hit you anywhere, your flag will trigger, conversely, it will take several hits to knock them out, meaning we will need the element of surprise in order to win this," the girls were starting to think about this when Darjeeling dropped what Scott said about the boy's experience on them and she began to lay out her plan.

* * *

Meanwhile, Scott found the boys preparing the Centurion. He hollered, "Gentlemen! Are we almost ready?"

Josh nodded, "Ay Lord, just topping off the ammunition and we'll be set."

Scott nodded, "Right," then he climbed up into the commander's position, thinking aloud, "Outnumbered, outgunned, and less experienced, they'll wipe the floor with us if we're not careful."

Josh then spoke up, "What about One-Seven?"

Scott dismissed it out of hand, "Too risky, if we had more tanks then it would be another story, Three-One maybe? No, too direct."

Foster then said, "Why don't we just try to divide and conquer?"

Scott shook his head, "No, the girls stick to their formations tightly, we'll have to use ambush and attrition tactics," he muttered.

Stan sat in his seat, since his trip up Thursday, Scott had ordered him to take it easy, "Milord, we've got very little chance of winning this, don't we?" he asked.

Scott shrugged, "Our unorthodox tactics may work, but I think the win will be down more to luck than skill."

* * *

The boys had quietly finished preparing the tank and gotten to their starting location and a few moments later, the 'match start' command came across the radio. Scott mused over the map, "No flag tank, but I bet Darjeeling will keep a tight formation to avoid ambushes," then he looked at a portion of the map, "Foster, head to hill 1118, we'll defend there and see what happens."

* * *

Darjeeling was having a similar thought process, "Hill 1118 would be the best place for him to plan a defence, let us eliminate that as a possible hiding hole for him." she ordered.

Off the Matildas and Churchill went, and the Centurion, all heading for the same point.

* * *

As luck would have it, Darjeeling's girls got there first. Hill 1118 was lightly forested and would provide excellent concealment from forces coming up the hill. The moment that the girls got set up in position, Scott's Centurion could be seen beginning to climb up the hill.

The battle that unfolded was quick and quite surprising. The first shot was fired by Rukuriri's tank and it connected with the Centurion's gun mantlet, causing the shell to shatter. The spall weakened the gun firing mechanism, leaving it unsafe to fire and popping the white flag on the Centurion. "Centurion disabled," came through the radio, and almost immediately, Scott popped his hatch and clambered in front to assess the damage, all while the girls drove forwards. Darjeeling raised her head out of her turret and gave Scott a questioning look, Scott saw it and said, "Shot connected with the Gun Mantlet and weakened the casing. I suspect, in any case, should we fire, it will shear off, or worse."

Darjeeling grimaced, "20 pounders aren't cheap and all of your spares are over two days out,"

Scott sighed, "Yes, it may be our undoing, Yorkshire is strapped for cash as is and I don't want to be a burden," then he thought of something, "There is a machinist class here, right?" he asked.

Darjeeling nodded, catching on what he was getting at, "They may take slightly longer than two days, but at least it wouldn't take months."

Scott nodded then banged on the hull, "Oi! Foster! Get this lump over to the garages, I'll speak with the machinist instructor and see if we can't get a project going." then he jumped off.

Darjeeling just barely heard Foster's acknowledgement before the Centurion was off. Scott was stroking his chin, "One shot took us out," he muttered before smirking, "I was right it seems, complements to that gunner, that was a damn good shot."

Darjeeling felt her lips quirk upwards, "Rukuriri's gunner took that shot,"

Just then, Rukuriri drove up, and had overheard that part, "Wasn't really anything fancy, we just fired an HE round and got lucky, that's all."

Scott shook his head, "Sometimes, being lucky is better than being good. Regardless, none of the gunners at Yorkshire could pull that shot off, Josh would be hard pressed to aim that carefully."

Darjeeling arched an eyebrow and Scott explained, "There's been a tradition of following the Royal Navy's doctrine in the eighteenth century. Unfortunately, it was a case of 'throw enough shells at it and eventually you'll win'. Not even the victories that myself and Terre achieve can break their mentality." then he sighed, "And that, in a nutshell, is the problem I have with this program, there are two different doctrines in play and they will clash. Ideally, we'd swap to using the Gloriana Doctrine of grace and elegance, but the boys were determined to make my life a living hell when I was briefing them back in Yorkshire, only Terre's crew and mine were cooperative, hence why we came."

Darjeeling scratched the back of her head, "And you wait till now to mention this?"

Scott grimaced, "Wasn't pertinent at the time," he replied.

Darjeeling nodded, "Fair, but next time, tell me sooner than two and a bit days out."

"Noted," Scott replied, as he started to unbutton his jacket, "Well, at least I now know what I'll be spending the next few weeks on."

Darjeeling didn't say anything, and, at first, Rukuriri thought that Darjeeling was just checking out her boyfriend. However, Darjeeling shouted, "Scott! Why is your shirt stained red?"

Scott and most of the girls nearby stopped and looked, indeed his shirt was stained red with blood, Scott frowned and threw his jacket to the side, then held out his hand, "Medkit?" he asked expectantly.

Darjeeling quickly threw a Medkit from the Churchill at him and he walked over to the side of the tank, but he stumbled and fell to the ground, "Bugger!" he exclaimed.

Immediately, all of the girls rushed over to him and pulled him onto the back of the Churchill. There, Assam and Ruhuna began administering first aid while Darjeeling held Scott's hand. Scott was barely lucid, but he could still attempt to lighten the mood, "Bet this isn't how you envisioned the first time you saw me shirtless? Huh?" he joked.

Darjeeling just squeezed his hand tighter and Scott winced, "Darjeeling?" Assam said softly, pulling Darjeeling's attention towards her, "You'll want to see this,"

Darjeeling raised an eyebrow and looked where Assam was and was horrified. Littering Scott's body were scars, some older than others, though the prominent ones were bleeding while Ruhuna was applying the bandages. But what shocked her the most was Scott's ribcage, or rather, the mess that was supposed to be his ribs. Scott heard Darjeeling gasp and knew what she had seen, "Archibald, my dear, he did some of what you see," he whispered, then he groaned as Ruhuna muttered an apology when she started to apply pressure, "I'm fine."

This was the wrong thing to say around Darjeeling at the moment, "Fine! You look as though you've been beaten day in and day out for years! I don't care where they are, Archibald is not going anywhere near here!" she screamed, all the while, tears were running down her face.

Though Scott couldn't see her face, he heard the tears in her voice, and he knew she was right, "Sorry Darjeeling."

Soon Scott was bandaged up and loaded into the Churchill where Darjeeling wouldn't let him out of her sight, not that Scott was complaining, he was asleep in her lap. By the time that they reached the garages, Scott had woken up and was somewhat able to stand, and the boys were slightly concerned to see him rely on someone so heavily to stand, "Milord?" Josh asked.

Scott waved him off, "Later Josh, right now I could do with some sleep, and maybe some food."

That was all Darjeeling needed to hear as she began dragging him away towards the car. "Where are you going?" Foster exclaimed.

Darjeeling shouted over her shoulder, "To your place, to take care of him."

No one said a word as Darjeeling took Scott away. But once she left, Josh went to Assam, "What happened?" he asked.

Assam sighed, "One of what I assume to be his newer injuries reopened and we saw what was supposed to be his ribs," then she glared at him, "When were you or Scott going to tell us?"

Josh blinked, "I'm sorry, but this is news to me, what do you mean 'newer injuries?' and what is wrong with his ribs?"

This surprised everyone, and Assam said as much, "What? You didn't know?"

Josh, Foster and Stan shook their heads, "We knew that there were days that the Captain would take things slow," Foster began, "But we never could get him to say a thing."

Stan nodded, "He's really good at the 'let me carry your burdens but never let anyone carry mine' thing,"

Assam sighed, "Hopefully Darjeeling will fix that."

The boys nodded, and they set off to finish maintenance on the tanks. Meanwhile, at the boy's place, Darjeeling had Scott settled into his bed and was sat by his side, it wasn't long before Darjeeling felt Scott fall asleep. Darjeeling herself fell asleep not long afterwards with her head laying on his chest.

That was how their friends found them several hours later, at least, partial. During their rest, it seemed that Darjeeling rotated herself to lay completely on Scott while Scott had a hand entangled in Darjeeling's hair, which had come undone at some point. Scott's internal clock sat at just under two days.


	7. Chapter 7

Soon, too soon for Scott, he was standing next to Darjeeling as they watched as the C-130s landed. However, unlike the last time, Darjeeling felt no intrigue at the new arrivals, she only felt dread. Standing beside her, Scott had a face of stone on, though those that were close to him knew, there would be no hesitation on his part. All parties hardened their expressions once the doors lowered and soon, all the tanks were rolling out: the three A34 Comets rolled out first, with Jasmine out of her hatch looking at them, waving at them. Then came the FV304 Self-Propelled Guns, of which there were four. Finally came the two AT2 Tank Destroyers, with Archibald looking as pompous as ever, "You'd of thought he would have kept the grandstanding to a minimum," Josh muttered.

"Gentlemen! And select Ladies," Scott hollered, grabbing everyone's attention, "You are to report to the garages with your tanks, at which point, I will brief you. You will have then four hours to prepare yourselves for the Welcoming Ball the Headmistress is preparing for your arrival. Dismissed!"

The ball was news to most, but since Scott took off in the direction of the garages, it was up to Darjeeling to answer the questions, "The Headmistress believed that in the spirit of cooperation, a Welcoming Ball should be thrown, on the plus side, those of us that are already taken will be able to spend the night in each other's arms."

This boded well for Darjeeling and Assam, who were already taken, and to a degree, Orange Pekoe as well since she and Stan were almost to that point themselves. Except for those rare exceptions, the girls would dance with whomever they felt like and the boys would too. All were happy at that arrangement.

* * *

However, in the garages, Scott was having a rough time getting everyone to settle down so he could speak. Finally, he looked in desperation to Terre who just nodded and gave a sharp whistle. That silenced the crowd and Scott gave a grateful look to her before stepping forward, "I'm gone a single week and discipline just evaporates, is it any wonder my faith is shaky at best?" he began. Not expecting an answer, he continued, "No matter, I want you all to pay attention because I can prove that the Yorkshire Doctrine will not work!"

He then showed a clip taken from the practice match on Sunday by Darjeeling's Churchill VII and in particular, the shot that disabled the Centurion. After letting it digest for a minute, Scott resumed, "In one shot, Lieutenant Rukuriri disabled the Centurion, something that most of the other tanks in this competition will not be able to do so easily, but could very well attempt, showing that the Yorkshire way won't work here…"

At this, all of the boys erupted in anger, not realising that Scott was nowhere near done. Scott just massaged his temple, the longer this took, the less time they had to prepare for the ball. Finally, Scott shouted, "QUIET!" and, surprisingly, they quieted down, "The longer it takes for me to get through this, the less time you have to prepare for the ball, I don't have much to do, so you're only harming yourselves," he mentioned. This got them really quiet really fast, "Right! Here's what is happening, for the next four weeks the gunners WILL be learning under the St Gloriana gunners. If you fail to match their accuracy, you will not be participating until you get there, if you fail to show up for the training sessions, I will assume you are not serious about this and ship you back to Yorkshire. In essence, we are using the St Gloriana Doctrine, the tenets of Grace, Elegance and Patience will be our tenets. No more will we throw shells at the problem and you WILL understand that Lieutenant Robbins and I are speaking sense."

With that, Scott dismissed everyone. Not to anyone's surprise, Terre accompanied him back to his flat. Along the way, he brought her up to speed on everything that had happened, from his dating Darjeeling to Stan's trip up. "'Bout time you met someone you have a chance with, did you tell her everything?" she asked.

Scott shook his head, "No, I didn't want to unload everything all at once, tonight some more will come out I'm sure."

Terre knew what he was getting at and chose not to pry. Thankfully, the rest of the day went quickly and Scott had put on the same suit he had worn on his date with Darjeeling with two subtle differences, a cross was pinned to his left side, with the words "For Gallantry" on it and a pin on his lapel bearing the coat of arms for the Dukedom of Norfolk. As Scott looked himself over in the mirror, women's screams and blazing sirens echoed in his mind, thinking back to a day many years ago.

Before he could go down the rabbit hole too deeply though, Josh walked in, dressed in a simple black dress suit, "Milord?" he whispered, causing Scott to turn around and raise an eyebrow, "The girls have arrived," Josh answered.

Scott simply nodded and put on white gloves while walking out. There, he greeted the girls. Darjeeling had worn the same thing as their date as well, Assam was wearing a simple ocean blue double shoulder dress with a red rose corsage, Pekoe was standing next to Stan, her dark green gown complementing Stan's Oxford Blue suit quite nicely, Scott noticed Foster was wearing his white suit. It wasn't long before Darjeeling noticed the changes and asked him about it, "My father, before his death, was the Duke of Norfolk, and I was the Earl of Arundel. Thus the Dukedom passed to me. As for my George Cross…" Scott paused, unsure of what to say, before settling on the whole truth, "When the I was in London one day when I was twelve, the Queen was watching over a Remembrance Day parade. Someone in the crowd was displeased with something and had planted a bomb," he whispered before continuing, "I recognised it and shout for everyone to take cover before doing something slightly stupid and jumped on the bomb. I was in Casualty for about a month and was the only one seriously injured that day before I was released to the Palace to be awarded the George Cross, despite my attempts to deny it, I was to be celebrated as the saviour of that day, yet I didn't want to be recognised as a Hero, but, well, there's no denying the Queen."

At that, the room was as silent as a tomb. The boys knew that Scott never liked to talk about what earned him his George Cross, while the girls could hear the pain in his voice and wisely decided to leave it be. Just then, Terre entered, still in the Yorkshire standard uniform of a red jacket and black trousers, the only difference being the sword strapped to her side and a dragoon helmet under her arm. Casting a glance at the boys, she said, "Are we ready?"

Scott nodded, "Good," she replied, "I hate this part of our duties and I want to get this over with." she finished as she fastened the helmet's straps under her chin.

Scott rolled his eyes, but it was Foster that spoke up, "You just don't like the arse-kissing everyone does at these events, after all when Britain's premier Duke is around, everyone 'must' give him advice and counsel."

Scott smacked Foster upside the head, "Language young man."

Foster just retorted, "Yes father."

Scott sighed and massaged the bridge of his nose, "Not even going to touch that," he muttered before looking back to Terre and raising a single eyebrow, "No service pistol?"

Terre just shrugged, "The sword should be more than enough of a deterrent."

"Or your tendencies," Foster muttered.

Terre just shrugged, "Only idiots dare try anything now," she shook her head, "Unfortunately you know how I feel about most of Yorkshire."

Scott sighed, "Yes, yes, most of the boys are idiots, I know, can we go now and leave politics at the door?"

Terre winced and apologised to Scott, who said nothing. It didn't take long for them to reach the ballroom where the party was in full swing. Looking at Darjeeling and smiling, Scott led her out to the floor and off they twirled. The boys noticed this, "I must say," Foster began, "I've never seen Scott seem so happy!"

Josh smirked, "That's easy to explain my dear brother," he said then gestured towards them, "He thinks the world of Darjeeling now, and will not notice anyone unless they mean to harm her."

Terre nodded, happy for her friend of so many years, "I haven't seen him this happy since Dolgoch all those years ago."

The girls didn't know what she was talking about but the boys did, "You knew Scott then?" Josh asked.

Terre just smiled, before walking to some of her crew. Foster just shook his head, "Sometimes I don't think I'll ever understand girls," he muttered.

Josh chuckled and wrapped his arm around Assam, "I doubt men were ever meant to understand women, after all, all the ones I know are far smarter than the rest of us combined."

Assam smirked and laid her head on his shoulder, "Good answer," she whispered to him.

As they were talking, Scott and Darjeeling were gliding across the dance floor, the unusual sight of Scott on the dance floor caused many to pause and look at the couple. The boys and few numbers of girls who came from Yorkshire were astonished to see Scott smile, an action never before seen by them, while the girls of St Gloriana looked on in hope that they could find one as gentlemanly as Scott.

But joy could not last forever without some dark. And the dark came when Archibald approached the couple, who had been on the floor for over a half hour, "Well, well, I never thought I'd ever see a girl willingly dance with you Perkins," Archibald sneered.

Scott sighed, "What do you want Evans?"

Archibald seethed, "How many times must I remind you, it's _Viscount_ Evans of Chelmsford."

Scott rolled his eyes, "If you must continue to insist on the use of our titles, then I will remind you to refer to me as His Grace, the Duke Perkins of Norfolk, GC," he replied, stressing the GC part.

Darjeeling though was undeterred, "If you're quite done, Scott and I can get back to dancing,"

As Scott and Darjeeling spun away from him, Archibald seethed. It wasn't widely known that the rules regarding the tanks were modified based on a request from his father, if he hadn't, the FV304s would have stayed home. As it stood now, any tank pre-1950 would be able to partake, but Archibald wanted more. He wanted what he thought was Scott's position as Commander, if he was the Commander he would have considerable sway over proceedings in matches, plus it would greatly boost his ego. What he didn't know though, was that Darjeeling was in command, not Scott.

It didn't take long for his folly to unfold. After an hour of dancing, Darjeeling and Scott finally stepped off the floor. It didn't take long for Archibald to see this and make his move. As Scott took the chance to fetch them some refreshments, Archibald approached Darjeeling, "I know that Perkins will not have been able to show you a good time, why don't I show you how a real gentleman would treat you."

Darjeeling glared at him, "If you were a gentleman, you would not take the opportunity to beat the tar out of Scott whenever you pleased," she growled before narrowing her eyes, "Due to reports from various members of the crew of the Centurion, you have a long way to go before I even consider granting you anything, much less a dance."

Archibald fixed his best smile that had always wooed many previous ladies, "Oh they tell lies, I assure you…"

But Darjeeling cut him off, "You shall assure me of nothing, I've seen the wounds and scars myself, Evans. As your commander, you will cease this action else I shall invoke the Buckingham Protocols."

This got Archibald's blood boiling, he had never been spurned by anyone and Darjeeling was drawing a crowd. Before he could say anything, however, Scott returned with drinks, "Everything alright Darjeeling?" he asked.

Darjeeling smiled, "Indeed Scott, just showing a fool the error of his ways." then she smirked, "I would think that continual unwanted flirting would be covered under the Buckingham Protocols, would it not?"

Scott grinned inwardly, he knew what Darjeeling was doing, "Indeed it would Milady, do you wish for me to find the Headmistress?"

Before Darjeeling could answer, Archibald exploded, "This is your doing Perkins! I know it!"

Scott raised an eyebrow, "If my doing is finding a girlfriend before you came, then yes it is. However, your unwarranted and unsuccessful flirting is hardly my fault now is it?"

Archibald lost it and lunged at Scott, who just stepped to the side and avoided the blow. Scott simply put his foot on Archibald's back, preventing him from getting up until the Headmistress arrived, "Mr Evans, I am thoroughly disappointed in you. I had hoped that Captain Perkins and his crew had exaggerated their accounts, but now I see that, if anything, they underplayed the danger you posed to us. As such, you will be shipped back to Britain, effective immediately. Your personal belongings will be shipped back at a later date. You are dismissed."

With that, two burly officers of the ship yanked him off the floor and dragged him away, much to the joy of many of the boys from Yorkshire. The Headmistress then turned to Scott who quickly apologised for underplaying the danger Archibald posed to St Gloriana, but the Headmistress waved him off, "Captain, there was little you could do, and your warning was most appreciated." she then turned to everyone else, "Well? Get back to it, this is a Ball after all."

And so they did. Long did they party, until, after many hours, it was the last dance. It was a very slow song and Darjeeling and Scott were just swaying to the music. If they bothered to look around them, they would have seen Orange Pekoe and Stanley, as well as Assam and Joshua doing the same thing. It was the last verse before either of them said a word, "Darjeeling?" Scott whispered, to which Darjeeling only hummed, "What does our tomorrow look like?"

Darjeeling sighed, "I don't have anything other than classes tomorrow, you have to get the gunners to begin their training, but I think you can get them started and then we can meet up with each other."

Scott nodded, "Good, we've not actually talked about our relationship and what we want out of it."

Darjeeling nodded and agreed that they did need to talk about it. As the music reached its crescendo, the three couples kissed, slowly, tenderly and with all the love in the world pouring into them, slowly coming back to the real world and obtaining an awareness of their surroundings. It would have been possible to count on a single hand, the number of times Scott smiled in his life after his parents' death, but with Darjeeling in his life, it was unlikely to continue in that manner any longer.


	8. Chapter 8

The next day came with little fanfare, Scott woke to hear breakfast in the making and embarked on his morning routine. Upon reaching the kitchen though, he was surprised to find Assam, Pekoe, Terre, and Darjeeling there before him, "Morning ladies," he remarked before turning to Josh, who was standing in front of the stove, "Making breakfast this morning Josh?" when Josh nodded, Scott smirked, "Just don't burn my eggs,"

Josh rolled his eyes, "That was, what, four years ago?"

Scott just smiled, "Yes, and that was the only time I've ever gotten bad eggs, so I'm always going to give you crap for it, even when we are old and grey and in a home."

Josh sighed, he knew he couldn't win, the worst part was, all of the girls looked expectantly towards Scott, so he knew the story would be told, "Well, four years ago, Josh was trying his hand at making breakfast. I wasn't that concerned because all I had time for were some eggs and I believed that there was no way anyone could screw up scrambled eggs. Well, a minute after that thought had formed in my head, I'm getting a lesson in Scots Gaelic, and none of the words should be repeated in front of such fine company. The reason for this was because, somehow, Josh had made my eggs about as black as midnight," this cause everyone to laugh and Scott continued, "So I say to him, 'Oi, Joshua, I asked for Scrambled, not Charcoal!'" and this set everyone off again.

Eventually, Josh set a plate in front of Scott, "There, Belgian Waffle with Bacon and Scrambled, NOT burnt, eggs."

Scott smiled, "You've definitely gotten better Josh," he remarked before eating.

Stan then entered, "Morning Milord, your schedule has filled up since you took down Archibald last night," he remarked as he sat down next to Pekoe.

Scott was quite confused, "Eh? I only knew I had to deal with the Gunners starting their training under their female counterparts. What has been added?" he asked.

Stan shrugged, "Chief wouldn't say, though I'd put money on the fact that Archibald’s father is raising a stink about what happened last night," he replied before pausing, "In any case, they want you at the station by 10:30 so training has been pushed back to 13:00. Oh, and all of the drivers want to learn under Rosehip."

Scott sighed, "Of course they do," he muttered before turning to Darjeeling, "Any ideas about how to solve that?"

Darjeeling sighed, "No, I'm sure I'll think of something though."

Stan shrugged, "Could throw them in the Churchill and Matildas, that'll teach them."

Scott grimaced, "Possibly, or it could just piss them off, which reminds me," he replied before turning back to Darjeeling, "We'll swap Rosehip's Crusader for the Comet today, let her and her crew get used to it before the Tournament starts." he said before muttering, "Then we've got to face off against the Bat."

Everyone turned to Scott, confused on who the "Bat" was. Scott noticed this and explained, "The Bat is what I call Shiho Nishizumi, I can think of no other way to refer to a person who believes it acceptable to disown their own daughter, whilst pushing for such a rigid and taxing style on her students."

The girls were shocked, "Shiho threatened to disown Miho?" Assam asked.

Scott nodded, "Aye, I only found out because I've been friends with Miho for several years now and she told me." at the boy's confused looks, he replied, "I met her when I was four, she was probably six or so and my father was on business over here."

Foster walked in with the paper, "Well, Milord, seems as though you're front page news over here."

Scott raised an eyebrow, "Give it here," he ordered. However, when he tried to read it, he noticed it was quite blurry, "Blast it all, I'm going to need someone to read this to me, I'm going to have to schedule an appointment to get my eyes checked as well." he muttered.

Josh frowned and took the paper from his hands, "You're going to need readers then, In any case here's what the front page is Scott:

* * *

_Duke Proves Chivalry Isn't Dead: subdues man getting fresh with a girl of St Gloriana._

_Last night, Headmistress Lady Gray threw on an unexpected Ball, welcoming the members of the Yorkshire School for Young Gentlemen to St Gloriana. Inviting members of both schools to get to know one another before the Academic Year officially starts next Monday for the people from Yorkshire. Honoured Guests included members of the new Coed Sensha-dō team, under the command of St Gloriana member Darjeeling, and vice commanded by Scott Perkins of Yorkshire._

_When the ball opened, there was no sign of either commander and, when asked, members of Yorkshire state that it wasn't unusual for Captain Perkins to be absent from such an event. However, ten minutes into the ball, Commander Darjeeling and Captain Perkins entered, walking arm in arm (see page 4 for a detailed story on their entrance and what they wore) and quickly took to the dance floor._

_After dancing for nearly an hour, Captain Perkins parted company from Commander Darjeeling to fetch refreshment for the two of them. Upon which, a member of Yorkshire approached Commander Darjeeling. Whereas Captain Perkins is the epitome of Gentlemanly Behaviour and Chivalry if interactions with him have proved, this man was on the opposite end of the spectrum. After some words, in which Darjeeling mentioned that this man, one Archibald Evans, "beat the tar" out of Captain Perkins, the man himself reappeared. Harsher words were exchanged between the two men and Evans apparently lost it, and lunged at the Captain, who simply stepped to the side and tripped him up. The Headmistress herself passed judgement on Evans, Banishing him from the Ark Royal with his personal belongings to follow at a later date._

_However, this was not the first time that night that words were exchanged between Evans, Perkins and Darjeeling. Earlier that evening, Evans approached the couple whilst they were on the dance floor. It was discovered by the larger crowd that Evans was Viscount of Chelmsford, a relatively small town in southern England indicating that he is the heir to the Marquess of Essex, and Perkins was the Duke of Norfolk, Britain's Premier Duke and that he was also the recipient of the George Cross, the second highest award in the British Empire and the highest attainable by a civilian. One must wonder, what did he do to receive this award at such a young age? Further details shall be released when they are attained._

* * *

Scott sighed, he knew it wouldn't end until his life was strung up for all to see, that was just how newspapers worked. However, he had little time to dwell on the matter as the clock struck ten, "Blimey, I'll be late if I'm not careful," he muttered. As he stood he looked to Terre, "Handle questions at your discretion Terre, but try to keep some of my life private," after receiving a nod from her, he turned to Darjeeling and pressed a quick kiss to her cheek, "I'll be back by 13:00 at the latest, try to keep the three stooges under control, I know it's a near impossible task…"

Josh and Stan cried indignantly while Darjeeling smirked, "If I have trouble, I'm sure Pekoe and Assam will be more than willing to help." she mentioned as the girls nodded eagerly.

Scott smirked and made his way to the police station, dreading what he feared would be the case when he got there.

Upon arrival, Scott would wonder if he was prophetic before dismissing it out of hand. Indeed Archibald's Father had come to the Ark Royal, how he came so fast Scott didn't know, and was trying to free his son from punishment. Scott waited a mere moment before growing bored and clearing his throat, catching the attention of the officer at the desk and the Marquess of Essex, "Well as amusing as it would be to continue to listen to this… discussion, I have work to do and would appreciate it if I could get back to do it sooner rather than later." Scott mentioned.

The Marquess seemed oddly relieved to see Scott, "Milord," he began, "You must help my son…"

Scott raised a hand, "The only help your son will receive from he is the fact that I am allowing his personal effects to be shipped home with him. Believe me, the Headmistress was adamant that they would be shipped back at a later date, however, my crew managed to convince her to send them back sooner."

The Marquess was incensed, "Why you!"

Scott merely raised an eyebrow, "I would choose your next words carefully, the woman that your son harassed is none other than the Commander of the Sensha-dō team for St Gloriana's new Coed team. Not only that, but she will be, God willing, the next Duchess of Norfolk."

The officer couldn't resist throwing a jab in as well, "As well as being the Headmistress' daughter!"

Scott smiled, he remembered that little detail in the dossiers he had been provided and, back in Yorkshire, had decided to ensure that he stressed to the team in meetings the critical notion that they were not to screw with her, notably, Archibald had been missing during these meetings, "It seems as though your son has royally screwed up, and not even your influence will matter here, after all, Japan cares not where you rank on the English social ladder, you're still a foreigner to them. A foreigner who talks a lot."

Spluttering, the Marquess was quickly ignored by Scott who decided to talk with the officer at the desk, "What can I do for you?" he asked.

The officer shrugged, "Well, you've already helped a bunch by defanging that one," he said jabbing a finger at the Marquess, "Chief's Office is through those doors, turn left, then proceed to the third door on the right, I imagine he'll tell you then."

Scott snapped off a salute and did as the officer said, where he was introduced to Kitagawa Masatane, the Chief of Police and Security for St Gloriana. "Captain Perkins, a pleasure to meet you in person at last. I only wish it was under better circumstances," he said.

Scott was stunned, "The article?" he asked.

Kitagawa shook his head, "No, no, my daughter speaks highly of you. You might know her as 'Assam' of the Sensha-dō team."

Scott raised an eyebrow, but after taking another look at the man, he could see the resemblance, "I see. However, I need to get back to training quickly, and, before I do, I will have to apologize in advance for putting your daughter through the Hell that is training the boys of Yorkshire in shooting accurately."

Kitagawa chuckled, "Do not worry, Assam loves a challenge. But, you are, of course, correct." he then gestured to a file on his desk, "As this is the first, and hopefully last, incident that has occurred because of one of your boys, I need your input on the matter," on Scott's raised eyebrow, he continued, "While subduing Mr Evans, one of my officers was attacked by him, leading to him being unable to return to duty for a week as his face heals. I am unable to convince myself that I could not be accused of…"

Scott interrupted, "With all due respect Chief, what is your planned punishment for Evans."

"Thirty days in lockup then the Headmistress' punishment," he replied.

Scott thought for a moment, "I'm going to push for sixty days followed by the Headmistress' punishment."

Kitagawa was stunned, "Pray do tell why you wish for a longer sentence?"

Scott snorted, "That pompous arse needs to realise that the world doesn't revolve around him and that he can't get away with poor behaviour forever."

Kitagawa simply nodded, "I see, in any case, that is all Captain, thank you for your time."

Scott nodded, and stood to leave when Kitagawa called out, "Captain? This Joshua my daughter has mentioned?"

Scott nodded, "Her boyfriend of a little under a week?"

Kitagawa grimaced and Scott knew what he was getting at, "Sir, I can assure you, Lieutenant Hall will treat your daughter with the utmost respect. I've known him for a few years now, what he feels for your daughter is genuine, and, I suspect, we are talking about the future Mrs Hall."

Kitagawa sighed and looked down before speaking up, "Thank you, Captain."

Scott smiled, "And if he screws up, I already have permission from your daughter to torture him as I see fit, legally of course."

This brought a smile to Kitagawa's face, "You know just what to say to brighten my day."

At this, Scott left the station and started off to St Gloriana. Upon his arrival, he went straight for the Sensha-dō garages. Since the students from Yorkshire had just arrived, they wouldn't be starting classes until the following Monday, and, as such, most of them were already there. Terre, upon noticing Scott, hollered, "Attention! Captain on site!"

This brought everyone to their feet and saluting. Scott smiled, "As you were. Gunners, Lieutenant Hall and Lieutenant Robbins, with me. Until the girls of St Gloriana are released from their classes, Robbins, Hall and I will be your instructors."

Soon they were out in an open field where there was a rifle and some targets about five hundred to two thousand metres out. Scott turned to them, "Right! To start, we'll perform a simple rifle exercise. Your task is to shoot each of the targets ranging from five hundred metres to two klicks as fast as possible, while still hitting them. The target will fall if it is hit. Oh and some of them move. You have ten rounds for ten targets," he then picked up the rifle, "Something like this," he said and nodded to Josh who pushed a button and made about half of the targets move on rails.

Josh the shouted, "Begin!" and pressed his stopwatch.

Scott loaded then brought the rifle up and unleashed hell. In ten seconds, every target was down. Josh smirked, "Ten seconds Milord,"

Scott though, frowned, "Damn, I'm getting rusty, I thought for sure I would get a sub-ten this time."

Terre scoffed, "Pay no heed to that, normal human times for this exercise typically run anywhere from one to five minutes."

Scott shrugged, "The premise is the same though, as a few of you may know, before I was the Commander of the Centurion, I was its gunner, so now I would think that you lot will understand me when I talk about this sort of thing rather than dismiss it out of hand."

He then gestured to Josh and handed him the rifle, "Reset and run them through it. As soon as you are done, we'll move on to bigger guns."

With that, he walked off. Josh shook his head, "Of course you leave this to me," he muttered, before looking to the cadets, "So, who wants to go first?"

* * *

While Josh was trying and failing, to remain calm during the exercise, Scott walked back to the garages, "Right! I need the drivers to position their tanks on the firing range. Loaders! Get ready, once the gunners return, we'll be doing the same exercise they are currently doing with the tanks."

Surprisingly, or not if you were Scott, it took several hours for the gunners to finish their exercise. By that time, most of the girls had finished their classes, with the notable exception of Darjeeling and Rosehip. Scott asked Assam, "Say, you wouldn't happen to know where Darjeeling and Rosehip are, do you?"

Assam nodded, "Yes, Darjeeling is… refining Rosehip's manners."

Scott was very confused, "Refining? What on Earth are you on about?"

Assam sighed, "You never saw her when she first arrived, but suffice it to say that Rosehip wasn't very ladylike then and still struggles to fit in with the rest of us."

Scott stared blankly at Assam, before saying, "We see the world, not as it is, but as we are, or rather, as we are conditioned to see it."

Orange Pekoe thought for a moment, "That is Stephen R Covey, right?"

Scott nodded, "Indeed Pekoe, the essence of it is that no one sees things the same way, rather we see things according to our personal experiences. To use myself and Rosehip, for example, I was brought up knowing all about High Class and Gentlemanly behaviour, Rosehip, I suspect, was brought up in a large family, if her need for speed is anything to go by. Therefore, I would theorise that where I would see a Ball as an opportunity to socialise with the movers and shakers of the political arena, Rosehip might see it as a bore."

Assam and Pekoe blinked, "How on Earth could you come up with the fact that Rosehip hates formal dances with a passion only matched with her passion for speed?"

Scott smirked, "Did I mention I have a mild fascination with Psychology? But, in truth, the answer is much simpler than that," he replied before pointing at one of the boys standing next to an FV304, "That lad there, his name is Rhys, and, much like Rosehip, he loves going as fast as he can. The drive behind that is that he is one of seven children blessed to his parents, the youngest at that too," he then paused, thinking for a moment, "When we first came here and Rosehip was introduced to me the night when you, Assam, tried to do whatever your plan was to get Darjeeling and me together, I had to stop myself from calling her Rhys as I noticed several similarities between the two."

At that moment, Josh walked over with Terre, trailing behind them was all of the gunners, "Milord, we are ready for phase two." he said.

Scott nodded, "Right you lot! Into your tanks, you will perform the same exercise under the guidance of Lady Assam, Lady Pekoe, as well as Robbins and Hall. Hop to it!"

As Scott watched them enter their vehicles, Josh walked over to Scott, "Heading up?"

Scott nodded, "Aye, you know what to do Josh," and with that, Scott took off.

* * *

Soon, Scott was standing outside Darjeeling's office, wherein he knocked on the door, "It's open," Darjeeling called.

Scott entered and saw Rosehip sitting on one of Darjeeling's couches and Darjeeling holding her. When Scott stepped closer, he noticed the tear stains running down Rosehip's face, "Darjeeling? What happened?"

Darjeeling looked at Scott and was relieved to see him, but it was another person who answered "Rosehip's great-grandfather passed away earlier today," Headmistress Lady Gray replied.

Scott's heart sank, "Oh dear," he whispered, then he turned back to Darjeeling and Rosehip. Coming to a decision, he walked over and placed a hand on Rosehip's shoulder, "Rosehip, you remember that I am a Duke right?" when she nodded he continued, "Good, now, someone my age can only become a Duke one way, the way of Succession, and that can only happen after the last Duke has died." here Scott paused, the next part was the difficult part, "My Mother and Father died when I was five-years-old," he said, and Rosehip looked up at him, but he wasn't finished, "I watched them fall to their death."

Rosehip and Lady Gray gasped, only Darjeeling remained silent since she had heard this before, but she could hear the emotion behind his words and was moved to tears as well, but Scott continued, "You have a resource at your disposal, one I never had. Family. Your family will support you through these hard times, both your blood family and your Sensha-dō family."

At this, Rosehip left Darjeeling's arms and buried herself in Scott's. Scott, mildly shocked by the action, rubbed Rosehip's back as soothingly as possible. Darjeeling stood up and embraced the two of them from Rosehip’s other side. While watching this, Lady Gray simply smiled, she could tell that when her daughter and Scott decided to bless her with grandchildren to spoil, they would make wonderful parents. She knew about Darjeeling practically taking certain members of the Sensha-dō team under her wing so to speak and the way that she helped them was very reminiscent of her own relations with her daughter. After a while, she left, knowing that Darjeeling and Scott would take care of Rosehip.

Sure enough, they did. Soon after the Headmistress left, Rosehip had cried herself to sleep. Darjeeling and Scott locked eyes for a second, and they knew what the other was thinking. Darjeeling turned off the lights and shut the curtains while Scott laid Rosehip down on Darjeeling's couch and covered her with a blanket that was on the end of it.

After they did that, they went over to Scott's office. Darjeeling looked at him, "Thank you, Scott, while I would like to say that everything is perfect here, we, like all schools, have issues with bullies. Thankfully, none are on the Sensha-dō team, but Rosehip gets enough grief as it is, and we can't be with her in all of her classes."

Scott frowned, as one could expect from him, he hated bullies, no matter where they are. Then an idea formed in his head, "Darjeeling, Rosehip is a second year, right?" he asked. To which Darjeeling nodded, "Good," he muttered, then continued, "Foster is also a second year, and I suspect his schedule will look similar to hers, and, as you saw last night, he is not afraid to make his opinion known. If I tell him to protect her, he will do it."

Darjeeling sighed, "Good, Pekoe does her best, but there's only so much she can do," she replied.

Scott nodded, "Especially since she isn't the loudest person in the world."

Darjeeling nodded before laying her head on Scott's chest. Scott, sensing her distress, wrapped his arms around her. "I feel helpless sometimes like I can't do it all," she whispered.

Scott sighed, "And no one expects you to Darjeeling. We've got support staff for a reason."

He then tipped her chin so she could look at him, "It's not weakness to ask for help, Lord knows I delegate when I need to." then he smiled, "Besides, you've got me now, and while a part of my job is to make you look good, I'm also able to help you."

Darjeeling chuckled, "You mean you not here because of your looks?"

Scott's eyes twinkled, "Perhaps," he laughed, "But there's also a brain behind these good looks."

After a good laugh, Darjeeling was feeling much better. Then Scott brought her mind back to the reason he came up in the first place, "Now, as I recall, we were going to discuss our relationship, weren't we?"

Darjeeling nodded, "Yes we were," she replied.

Scott began, "Well, I already mentioned to the Marquess of Essex and an officer at the police station this morning that it was my hope that you would become the next Duchess of Norfolk,"

Scott would have said more, but his lips were busy kissing Darjeeling back after she lept at him at that statement. Darjeeling was pleased beyond all measure that Scott wanted to marry her.

It took a few minutes to calm themselves afterwards but soon they were peeking back into Darjeeling's office to check on Rosehip. They had decided to take things slow, with Darjeeling setting their pace, amongst other things. Much to their surprise, Rosehip was still asleep. After talking about it for a moment, Scott remained behind to keep an eye on Rosehip while Darjeeling went to the training grounds, knowing that in one month, the Tournament draw would happen, and they needed to bring their A-game…


	9. Chapter 9

It would be near the end of the day before Rosehip woke up. When she did, she noticed that all of the lights were turned off and someone had covered her with a blanket, it was then she heard a voice, "Well, you're awake now, how are you feeling?"

Rosehip spun towards the voice and saw Scott sitting behind Darjeeling's desk, writing something, "Better than before, thank you," she replied.

Scott nodded, "That's good, remember, everyone on the Sensha-dō team is here for you, and your family as well."

Scott then stood and walked over to her, "If you would like to head home, you may, Darjeeling and I agreed that you could have the next two weeks off if you chose."

Rosehip nodded sadly, but before she could say anything, there was a knock at the door, "Enter!" Scott called, and Foster entered, "Ah, Foster, did Darjeeling brief you?" he asked.

"No Milord," he replied, "She said you would explain."

Scott nodded, "In essence, stay with Rosehip. I need to go get some readers so I'll be able to work otherwise I'd do it myself," he said.

Rosehip, though confused, kept her confusion to herself. Foster simply nodded and so Scott left. "Well Miss Rosehip," he started, "lead the way."

Rosehip silently nodded and started walking out. Foster was immediately concerned, from his relatively limited interactions with Rosehip, he pegged her as a fun-loving, energetic person, this Rosehip though, was very quiet and almost apathetic in her movements. However, they hadn't even left the school when it happened.

Rosehip was opening her locker to grab her things when a high pitched voice spoke up, "Well, if it isn't the pink-haired pip-squeak, cause of the loss against Kuromorimine."

Rosehip winced, "Alisa," she whispered.

Alisa smirked, "If you hadn't gone off, we would have won."

Foster heard all of this and rolled his eyes, he knew that the reason St Gloriana had lost the semi-final was that the Churchill VII wasn't mobile enough to pull off the same tactic that Ooarai managed to pull off in the final, but it appeared that not everyone could see it. Meanwhile, Rosehip was under fire from Alisa and her group, so Foster decided to step in, "You know," he began and waited until he had everyone's attention, which they surprisingly gave, "I recall a similar situation to this, with Archibald Evans in your positions and the Captain in Rosehip's, and we know that turned out, now don't we?"

This had the effect Foster was hoping for: all of the girls stopped paying attention to Rosehip and turned their ire to him, "How dare you!" one of the other girls cried out.

Foster raised an eyebrow, "How dare I? How dare you bully anyone, especially a classmate," he growled.

This proved too much for the girls as they sprung at him and began beating him as Rosehip froze in horror. Thankfully, a shot rang out and this got the girls off Foster. Rosehip turned to the sound and saw Scott standing there, at her questioning glance, he said, "Blank round, no damage." before frowning and pulling a clip from a belt pouch, "These, however, are live bullets, and I will not hesitate to protect one of my own, and yes Rosehip, that I count you as one of my own."

Scott then looked at the girls, who, by the looks in their eyes, were trying to come up with some way to spin this to their advantage. "Now, I will be told what has occurred here, and I will not be lied to, as I can check the security footage to corroborate your stories."

This brought frowns to the girls, so Foster, though battered and bruised, explained what happened quite clearly. After Foster finished, Scott sighed, it honestly sounded like something he would do, "Foster, I cannot see this being your fault in any way, go to the nurse and get yourself patched up, you're bleeding all over your uniform."

Rosehip helped Foster up and took him to the nurse, this just left Scott with Alisa and her group of bullies. As it was, Scott was massaging his temple, he really didn't want to deal with it, but knew that it would be necessary, "I am, needless to say, very disappointed. When my Headmaster informed me that Yorkshire would be merging with St Gloriana, I shot off to research all I could about this school and I was awed by the reports of comradery between the students." Scott turned his back to the girls, "Expect to be called before the Headmistress tomorrow. I heard what Cadet Hall said about the similarities between this situation and the situation I was in, and I am inclined to agree, though the outcome will be very different, I assure you."

With that, Scott walked back to the nurse's office. If the nurse was surprised to see him back, she hid it well, but Scott walked over to where Rosehip was standing. However, just before he announced his presence, Rosehip spoke up and asked, "Why didn't you defend yourself?"

Foster, whose face was swollen badly, answered, "I couldn't bring myself to see you hurt, and I feared what would have happened had I not stepped in, but I simply wasn't brave enough to fight."

"poor boy! I never knew you, Yet I think I could not refuse this moment to die for you, if that would save you." Scott said, bringing attention to him.

"Captain!" Foster exclaimed as he tried to sit up.

Scott walked over and laid a hand on his shoulder and forced him down, "Lay down Foster, Walt Whitman was much like you, a pacifist by nature, yet he worked as a nurse in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He watched as young boys died for one cause or another and he was moved to pen those lines, wishing he could bare the battle for these boys whilst not firing a shot himself, if only so that they might live full lives."

Foster sighed, he knew what Scott was getting at but it was an old wound that wouldn't heal. Scott could see that Foster wasn't quite buying it, so switched tactics, "Young men often fight so that they might prove that they are brave, to get their own 'Red Badge of Courage' so to speak. As one who has seen the horrors of war and such through the events that led to my George Cross I can assure you, there is nothing courageous about getting wounded," Foster gave Scott an incredulous look, while Rosehip didn't know what to say, but Scott did, "Believe me, as Terre will attest to, I wasn't thinking about being brave or how heroic I would look, I was merely thinking that if one person lived because of me, that would make my life worth the pain that I had suffered."

At this point, the nurse entered, "As much as you are helping Mister Hall, I'm afraid you both will have to come back tomorrow, you all need your rest and I will not have anyone falling asleep because they refused to leave and take care of themselves!"

Scott nodded and bowed to the nurse, "Yes, of course, ma'am, we shall return with his brother in the morning."

At this, Scott escorted Rosehip to the boy's apartment where Stan, Pekoe, Terre, Josh, and Assam were sitting. Rosehip, rather uncharacteristically, curled up in a seat that normally would have been taken by Foster and shut her eyes. Concerned, Assam asked, "Captain? What happened?"

When Assam spoke, Scott began massaging the bridge of his nose, "To be blunt, a lot," he began, "She was dealt a double blow today. First, her Great-Grandfather passed away earlier today, then Foster followed my orders and then some when he drew the attention, then the ire of a group of bullies who, apparently, blamed her for the loss against KMM last year. When he pointed out the similarities between that situation and the situation that I was in with Archibald, they lost it and began beating him and only got off him when I fired a blank round into the air."

Josh paled, but Scott was quick to assure him, "Your brother has a swollen face and a busted lip, but the worst injury he has is that he feels he wasn't brave enough to defend himself."

Stan snorted, "Man goes in, doesn't resist because they could spin it, and gets beaten to a pulp and still feels as though he failed? I think we need to discuss what success can mean,"

Scott grunted, "I used Whitman's words on him, but it was only after I mentioned that I didn't feel brave during that incident that he seemed to be getting the message."

Pekoe raised an eyebrow, "Did you use the quote about him dying for a boy he didn't know if it gave him a chance to live?" she asked.

Scott nodded as he pulled out his phone, "Yes," he murmured while his fingers danced across his screen before putting it away, "I honestly don't know what else can be done."

Josh shook his head, "My stubborn brother has always believed that he wasn't good enough, despite our parents and friends telling him the opposite,"

It was then that the door flung open and in rushed Darjeeling. Surveying the scene before her, she sighed, but it was Scott that spoke first, "Bloody hell, that was fast, I only just sent the text!"

Darjeeling waved him off, "I was just about to the car lot when it came through, I ran the rest of the way." She then frowned, "What happened?"

Scott quickly explained and Darjeeling sighed, "Men, you charge into a situation and don't think of the consequences,"

Scott frowned, "In most cases, I would agree with you my dear," he began, "But a special mention must be made over the fact that Scottish men are more apt to it."

Darjeeling nodded and walked over to Rosehip and found her asleep, "Poor girl," she whispered before grabbing the blanket on the edge of this chair and covering her up, as gently as a mother would cover their child for a nap. Scott, Assam and Pekoe weren't surprised by how gentle Darjeeling was as the girls could give many examples of their commander going out of her way to see that a member of the Sensha-dō team was taken care of and Scott could remember earlier that afternoon.

Just then, the clock struck twenty-one times, Scott was shocked, "Blimey, it's 21:00 already?" he muttered before he turned to Darjeeling, "It's your call dear, I am sure we could put Rosehip up for the night or we can take her home."

Darjeeling pursed her lips, before sighing, "I think a night's rest in her own bed would do her a world of good," she replied. Then she looked to Assam and Pekoe, "Though if the girls wish to spend the night here, then you could come over and spend the night with us if only to allay my concerns about taking care of Rosehip myself." she finished.

Scott was stunned, not eight hours ago they had agreed to take their relationship slowly, yet here she was, inviting him over for the night. Yes, it was to help her with Rosehip, but, as Josh would later say: details! Regardless, Scott saw no reason to object, but issued a warning to the boys, "Gentlemen, realise that we are trusting you four to behave whilst I am out for the night," he began before casting a glance at Josh that, if weaponized, could have destroyed invading armies, "So no breaking the beds, ye hear!"

All four of the people in question turned so red-faced that one would have mildly wondered if there was any blood left in the other parts of their body while Darjeeling was struggling to contain her giggles. Eventually, Josh recovered enough to throw back, "Oi! I'm sure you could do the same tonight."

Scott just shook his head, "Considering our relationship is being paced by the lovely Darjeeling, I highly doubt that."

Though when Darjeeling and Scott locked eyes, she got the message behind them, 'though if she wants to have her wicked way with me tonight, who am I to stop her' and thusly flushed slightly. However, she composed herself enough to say, "Come, Scott, let's get Rosehip home."

Scott, nodding, walked over to Rosehip and scooped her up and cradled her as one could expect a parent would cradle their young child whom had fallen asleep away from their bed and needed to get to bed. Unsurprisingly, the blanket went with them and, as soon as they shut the door, Josh smiled, "Well, I think those two will be great parents one day."

Assam though, was in no mood for parenting quips, and, as such, smacked him upside the head, "Could we not talk about children after what Scott just said?" she demanded.

Josh, rubbing the back of his head, made a mental note to never piss Assam off again, "Yes dear, sorry dear."

Pekoe though, had another thought on her mind, "How did Darjeeling know that we've prepared to spend the nights at each other's places?" she asked.

Assam though just looked at her and said, "It's Darjeeling, she knows everything." and no one questioned it.

* * *

Meanwhile, Scott was driving the Falcon to Darjeeling's place. Since the girls shared the small two-storied house, the Headmistress was fine with allowing her daughter to live in her own place on the ship. Upon their arrival, Scott gently lifted Rosehip out of the car and walked her to her room, where he laid her on her bed and tucked her in.

After tucking her in, Scott walked downstairs to the kitchen to brew some tea and found Darjeeling still awake, "Dear, aren't you tired?" he asked.

Darjeeling though, shook her head, "No, I was going to brew some Chamomile to help me relax, would you like some?"

Scott nodded, "Please, after the day I've had, I could use some help relaxing."

Darjeeling raised an eyebrow in concern, "What happened?" she asked as she put the kettle on.

Scott sighed and shrugged, "Oh, the Chief wanted my approval for his planned punishment for Evans, evidently, he punched a security officer badly enough that he will have to take a week to recover," he replied. Darjeeling frowned but Scott continued, "He'll get two months in lockup before being banished from the Ark Royal, hopefully, it's the last I see of him until Parliament."

Darjeeling sighed, "I fear not," she said. At Scott inquisitive glance, she continued, "He seems to have a vendetta against you and I'm not sure how he would act in Parliament, but I doubt he would be accepting of you."

Scott sighed, he knew she was right, "I fear you may be right, but there is little I can do right now. The Dukedom is under the regency of the Queen until I turn twenty-one, only then may I abdicate my position, and the more I look at it, the more abdication looks attractive," his shoulders slumped, "I may just pull an Edward VIII, that is, if you feel it is the best option."

Darjeeling frowned, "Edward VIII abdicated because he was marrying an American twice-over divorcee whose former spouses still drew breath, you, however, are dealing with a man who seems to take pleasure in seeing you suffer and wishes for you to suffer eternally."

Scott nodded, "Yes, but he would have no business here in Japan, therefore, should I abdicate and remain here, he could not interfere with our lives."

Darjeeling wrapped her arms around him as he spoke, "And would you be okay with that?" she asked, worried about his response.

Scott though, just nodded, "If it was possible to abdicate now, I would do it with your approval. I never liked the, as Foster put it, 'Arse-Kissing' of British Politics, and, in all honesty, my dream is not to be a Duke, but a teacher," then he smiled, "Perhaps I could work here if all goes well."

Darjeeling smiled, "I'd like it if we could stay in Japan, though we must visit England every now and then."

Scott chuckled, "Of course Milady, after all, you should see where I grew up," he then grew slightly misty-eyed, "Arundel is beautiful during the Christmas season, the snow makes everything seem so… magical."

It took Scott a moment to pull himself out of his memories, but when he did, he remarked, "We've only got a month to train the boys before the tournament, is it possible?"

Darjeeling shrugged, "I don't know, but we'll give it our best effort."

* * *

And their best effort they gave. A month of manoeuvres, target practice, yelling, and drills later, Scott and Darjeeling looked out over their team, pride in their eyes. "We've come a long way since we arrived a month ago, haven't we Darjeeling?" Scott whispered.

Darjeeling nodded, a small smile on her lips, "Indeed we have Scott, shall we?"

Scott smirked, "You bet," he replied before giving a sharp whistle, gathering the attention of all, "Ladies and gentlemen, good work making it through the past month," he began.

Darjeeling picked up, "We've not made it easy on anyone since beginning training, and school work hasn't made it any easier, but we've turned two teams into one unit."

It was up to Scott close, "Tomorrow, we arrive in Tokyo to draw our seat in the tournament. Rest up, we've got a long day ahead of us. Dismissed!"

As the team dispersed, Josh, Assam, Stan, Orange Pekoe, Foster, and Rosehip walked up to the two commanders. Foster and Rosehip had become close in the intervening month and Scott could see the first rays of doubt in Foster's eyes, it seemed as though he had grown out of his crush on his sister and had started falling for the young scout tank commander, and she had fallen for him as well. All the while Darjeeling and Scott would just smile every time they saw them out and about, totally not on a date. Just then, Josh spoke up, "Captain, I just remembered something," he remarked and got approval to continue, "Well, during the last tourney, these ladies watched all of Ōarai’s matches, are we going to continue that?" he asked.

Scott rubbed the stubble on his chin, "I don't see any reason not to unless I'm just not seeing it?"

Darjeeling shook her head, "No, I was going to ask, we've just been busy."

At that, they walked to the girl's place. Since the girls had an actual house, the boys would go there, have dinner, usually cooked up by either Joshua or Stanley, then part ways for the night with the occasional time where one of the boys would spend the night with the girls or vice-versa. That night though, there was one topic on everyone's mind, "Captain, who do you think we'll end up facing?" Foster asked from his seat near the window.

Scott furrowed his brow in thought, "The draw is completely random, owing to the fact that the places are drawn by each Commander in random order. That order also changes every year. So for all I know, we could be facing someone like Count High School, or even Anzio."

Josh sighed, "Knowing our luck though, we'll probably face Kuromorimine or Ōarai in the first round."

Scott shrugged, "I'm not particularly worried, it'll be decided in the morning and then I'll worry about it. Right now, I have more important things on my mind," he replied.

Stan snorted from the kitchen, "You mean 'in your lap' Captain,"

As it was, Darjeeling was sitting in Scott's lap, though Josh had Assam in his lap, so Josh didn't make a remark on it. Soon though, everyone quieted down as the television suddenly changed from the program they were watching to the school ship news program.

* * *

_"Breaking news! Prisoner escapes from the MPs!" the announcer says._

_The camera zooms on the reporter, "Good evening, Military Police, in charge of the security for HMSS Ark Royal have reported an escapee, one Archibald Evans has escaped custody and is currently loose onboard the ship. The Headmistress and relevant security personnel have been notified both onboard Ark Royal and in Japan's ports where the ship will come into dock. If anyone sights the escapee, you are requested to not approach him and contact security as soon as possible. Thank you."_

* * *

With that, it switched back to the original program, but everyone was too stunned to absorb any of it. Scott and Darjeeling were very concerned, but Josh spoke up first, "Milord? What are the chances that he's gunning for you?"

Scott looked down before replying, "Guaranteed Josh, what his end goal is, however, I cannot even begin to guess,"

Darjeeling though could imagine many possible endgames, and all of them scared her. Scott noticed this and wrapped his arms around her to calm her. Eventually though, after eating, it was time to part, but Darjeeling was so concerned about what could happen, that Scott decided to spend the night with her.

* * *

"Number Six!" was announced through the loudspeakers. The night had passed uneventfully and the Sensha-dō team were sitting in the Sensha-dō Federation's main building for the drawing. Scott took one look at the number five spot and the same thought that was running through everyone's mind ran through his, "Bugger!"


	10. Chapter 10

A hospital room was not the most comfortable place to rest, with its sterile colours constantly reminding the occupants as to why they were there, the only sound being the faint beeps indicating that the man on the bed was still in the land of the living. The young girl in the room had run out of tears to weep long ago, though the occasional tear slipped from her eyes.

Darjeeling looked on from the doorway, silent and tired. The past three days had been quite rough…

* * *

****Three Days Ago** **

* * *

After everyone had taken their seats, Scott ran an eye over the command staff of each school, taking note of expressions in the hope that they would be able to utilise a limited form of Psychological Warfare. He had just finished running his eyes over the Ōarai contingent when the announcer began speaking, "Good Day everyone, I welcome each of you and your school's to the Drawing Ceremony of the 64th National Sensha-dō Tournament. The first school to draw their spot is Kuromorimine!"

At that, two girls walked up and Darjeeling leant over and whispered in Scott's ear, "The brown-haired one is Maho Nishizumi, Commander for her mother's school, and the white-haired one is Erika Itsumi, her Vice-Commander."

Scott nodded, "Kuro is one of the only major schools to remain a single-sex school, I suspect the Headmistress' doing in that, even if it would have bolstered their numbers," he muttered, then he studied her and raised an eyebrow, "A mask? What do you have to hide?"

Darjeeling looked to him, "What?"

Scott gestured to Maho, "She's wearing an emotional mask, one that is good enough to fool most people, the clue is in her eyes. Their darting around, as if she's trying to determine when she can drop her mask and let her emotions out."

They were so engrossed in their conversation that they missed hearing what number had been called out, but they paid attention after that. Ōarai, Pravda, Saunders and Koala had been called up then came, "St Gloriana!" and up they went. Upon reaching the table upon which the jar sat, Darjeeling reached in and pulled out a slip of paper, "Number Six!" was called.

Scott and Darjeeling both looked up to see who was in the number five spot and a single word shot through their heads when they saw it, "Bugger!" as the number five spot was held by Kuromorimine.

Walking back to their seats, Scott absentmindedly watched the rest of the proceedings as he had retreated into his mind to work over what all he needed to find out about their opponent. Darjeeling shook him eventually as it had finished. St Gloriana would face Kuromorimine, Saunders and Anzio in spots seven and eight respectively, Pravda and BC Freedom in three and four, Ōarai and Chi-ha-tan in one and two, Jatkosota and Maginot; nine and ten, Bonple and Count High; eleven and twelve, Koala and Yogurt; thirteen and fourteen, leaving Maple and Waffle as fifteen and sixteen. Scott looked at Darjeeling and lent over and whispered in her ear, "Shall we exchange pleasantries with our opponents?"

Darjeeling nodded and so they walked over to the Kuromorimine seats, both Darjeeling's and Scott's crew following. Upon reaching them, Maho greeted them, "Darjeeling, I look forward to our battle," she mentioned.

Darjeeling pursed her lips, recalling the last time they had met on the field of battle. However, she quickly pushed that memory from her mind, "Perhaps, my dear Maho, allow me to introduce Scott Perkins, my Vice Commander," she said, gesturing to him.

Scott bowed, "Greetings young Maho, a pleasure to see you again."

Maho though, didn't have time to greet Scott as Shiho Nishizumi intruded on their conversation, "Maho, why are you conversing with this boy?"

Despite the intrusion, Scott maintained a pleasant attitude to the Nishizumi Matriarch, "Ah, Lady Nishizumi, a pleasure to meet you in person at last. Allow me to introduce myself, I am Scott Perkins. About ten years ago, my father met with you and spoke very highly of you."

While this had been going on, Foster had noticed something odd, a person was walking towards them, wearing a sweatshirt and had the hood up. However, once the person was close, Foster noticed the gun in the person's hand and that it was pointed at Scott. He knew he had to act fast, so with a shout of "Captain get down!" Foster began struggling with the person.

When Foster's shout was heard, the hooded man acted rashly; deciding to continue with whatever his plan was and to bypass Foster, a shot rang out.

For Rosehip, time stood still as she watched Foster get hit and collapse to the ground. After that, the next thing she remembered was holding Foster, begging him to be alive.

Scott though did remember what happened next. Rosehip, with holy fury in her eyes, began pummelling the assailant, before she used her small figure to hoist herself onto the man's back and began to choke him out. By this point, his hood had fallen off and everyone could see that it was Archibald Evans who had shot Foster.

The rest of the time between then and getting to Foster's room was a blur for everyone. Scott vaguely remembered asking some of the girls to take Rosehip home before she turned on him with the same look in her eyes that she had when she took Archibald down and promptly reneged that order.

* * *

****Back in the present** **

* * *

Darjeeling felt Scott's arms snake around her and lent back into her boyfriend, "You haven't been able to sleep, have you?" she whispered.

Scott scoffed, if the bags under his eyes, dishevelled hair and clothes weren't a dead giveaway, his voice would have betrayed his lack of sleep, "No I haven't," he murmured, "But I've also lost track of the boys, and I daren't leave Rosehip alone," then he sighed, "Though none of us should be alone at this time, even if he was an arse, we Yorkshire people still should have seen this coming, the fact that we didn't…"

Darjeeling nodded, much to the dismay of many St Gloriana Girls, and she was sure some boys were of similar mindset, Archibald survived Rosehip's assault though he was arrested and placed in a heavily guarded prison where he would be watched until his trial, "What do you think will happen to him?" she asked.

Scott shrugged, "I don't know, the laws here in Japan are very different to the laws back home, though I very much doubt he'll be walking free anytime soon for that very reason."

Darjeeling nodded and shut her eyes, "I'll call Assam and Pekoe, they'll find the boys," she said.

Scott raised an eyebrow, "Sweetheart, you do know that we want them in one piece, right?"

* * *

It turned out that Scott was right to be concerned, as Assam and Pekoe found their boys… completely smashed, but relatively whole. Though they would have been annoyed normally, with Rosehip having not moved in the past three days, they were willing to cut them a little slack, a little.

* * *

Darjeeling and Scott had moved into the room and had convinced Rosehip to sleep a little. They were just covering her with a blanket that the hospital staff were happy to supply when Darjeeling felt her phone buzz. Pulling it out, she just smiled at Assam's response, ' _Found them, tell Scott that they won't be in too many pieces after we're done._ ' Scott just sighed as he read the text over Darjeeling's shoulder. Darjeeling just chuckled, "What? Would you prefer that she not tell us that?"

Scott rubbed his temple, "It's the fact that she felt the need to tell me that that has me worried. Josh and Stan aren't reckless men by nature, but I suspect they went and got hammered so they can't be counted on. Tell me, what do you think they'll do?" he asked.

Darjeeling furrowed her brow, "Well, best case, they take care of them in their current state and in their hungover state. Worst case… oh, I see what you're worried about."

Scott sighed, "I don't think we'll have to worry about harm coming to the boys," he said. Darjeeling was confused so Scott continued, "With the boys unable to be responsible, the girls could have their way, and the beds we have aren't exactly the sturdiest things in the world."

Darjeeling blushed, "Do you really think they'll do that tonight?"

Scott shrugged, "Maybe, maybe not," then he flushed as well, "Perhaps we could leave this topic?"

Darjeeling nodded and they talked about everything and nothing…

* * *

****Several days later** **

* * *

It started with Pins-and-needles in his arms and legs. Then he slowly started to become aware of his surroundings; the bed he was in, most definitely wasn't his, the clothes he was wearing, not his, at least, he was fairly certain that he didn't have a gown in his wardrobe.

Foster's eyes fluttered open, it was then that he realised that he was in a hospital. He sighed, wondering what had happened when a nurse entered, "Ah, Mr Hall, you're awake."

Foster nodded, "Yes, what happened?"

The nurse thought for a moment, "Well, you were brought here seven days ago after you were shot, where we operated on you. You had been shot in the chest and the bullet was near your heart and lung. It took some time, and we still nearly lost you twice, but you should achieve a full recovery as long as you listen to your doctor," she said.

Foster absently nodded, and the nurse sighed, "You have had visitors for as long as you been here, Mr Perkins and Miss Darjeeling were frequent visitors, but that pink-haired girl only left last night after they had finally worn her resistance down."

Foster's eyes widened, "Rosehip's been here since I was shot?" he whispered.

The nurse nodded, "Yes she had been, I think you got yourself a keeper there lad." she replied, smirking.

Again, Foster just nodded. He absently listened to the doctor order him to take it easy, and explain that he would miss the first match of the tournament. After he got his things, he began to dress, going slow as he ran out of breath often. Eventually, though, he pulled out his phone and texted Scott, ' _Doc's released me, care to bring the car round?_ '

Scott was there in less than five minutes, though he was a bit enthusiastic and hadn't thought about the fact that Foster would be in a wheelchair and had brought the Centurion to collect him, "Captain! When I asked for the car, I didn't think you'd bring the Centurion! What gives?" Foster asked jokingly.

Scott smiled, "Eh, you know, I found the first vehicle I could find, besides, the commute is amazing in this thing, no one tries to cut you off," he replied before clasping Foster's shoulder, "It's good to have you back, Foster."

Foster smiled, "It's good to be back, granted I can't drive for three weeks so I'll miss the first match," he commented.

Scott shrugged, "Eh, we'll just have to beat Kuro so you can get in the driver's seat for a match."

Foster nodded, "Aye sir, why don't we get me loaded then you can tell me what all happened that the nurse and doctors didn't tell me?"

Scott grimaced and soon Foster had found out why, they had been about halfway home before Scott had finished and Foster was astonished, "You are telling me that my brother and Stanley went and got thoroughly pissed, and nothing came of it?"

Scott pursed his lips, "Well, not exactly, Assam and Pekoe are still letting them stew in their mistakes, and Darjeeling and I are still disappointed in them, but we think that what Assam and Pekoe are doing is punishment enough."

Foster nodded, planning on having some words with his brother, Stan, Pekoe and Assam. Then he focused on something that the nurse had told him, "Rosehip stayed there with me until last night?"

Scott looked at him incredulously, "Mate, I watched as she first pummelled, then choked out Archibald, I wasn't going to try and risk my neck to convince her to come home until last night when she asked to go home and fell asleep the moment we got there."

Foster said nothing, so Scott looked back at him and noticed his pensive look, "Speak it out Foster, it helps."

Foster sighed, "I've noticed since about a month ago that my crush on Jasmine has diminished and that I've grown feelings for Rosehip, but I don't want to risk it if she doesn't feel the same."

Scott sighed, "Foster, I'm going to stop you right there. When I look into your eyes, I see that you honestly care about Rosehip, I'd even say that you are in love with her. When I look into Rosehip's, I see the exact mirror, she cares, even loves you, she all but admitted it last night when Darjeeling and I were driving her home when she said that she couldn't remember why she decided to hold you when you were bleeding out, but she felt as if that was where she belonged."

Foster didn't say anything for a moment, before finally saying, "I'll speak with her."

* * *

It didn't take them that much longer before they reached the girls' place. It was rather quiet when Scott opened the door, Assam and Pekoe were in the front sitting room, quietly sipping tea. It took a moment for them to realise who had come in, but when they did, they both embraced him, "Foster, thank goodness you're home now," Assam said before they both left the embrace and rushed off.

Foster was slightly confused, then Scott simply said, "Rosehip," and his confusion lifted. In much her usual style, all that Scott and Foster saw of Rosehip was a bright pink blur before she ended up wrapped around Foster. Scott wisely left the room to allow them to talk and so sought out Darjeeling.

Foster though, with his arms and lap occupied by Rosehip, who was holding on to him as if he would disappear, was glad for the relative privacy, "Rosehip," he whispered, bringing her attention to his face, "I'll be fine after three weeks of rest, then I'll be able to drive again."

Rosehip buried her face in his chest, "I thought I lost you," she murmured.

Foster rubbed her back as soothingly as he could, "I'm fine Rosehip, honest."

* * *

Scott and Darjeeling were a few rooms over, "How are they?" she asked.

Scott smirked, "I believe they'll be dating within the hour."

Darjeeling rolled her eyes, "I knew that! I was referring to their reactions to each other!"

Scott laughed, "What do you think I was referring to? I saw a pink blur before realising that Rosehip was around him and seemed to be trying to suck his face off."

Darjeeling sighed, though Scott was amused, "What? You asked!" he said.

She looked up, "I guess I did," she muttered. Then she walked over to the table, "Just as I guess we should begin preparing for our fight with Kuromorimine."

Scott nodded, "Right," he said as he too walked over to the table, "With the number of tanks that they own, it is virtually impossible to even begin to formulate a guess as to what we could face, the only thing that I am certain of is the fact that we could very well face at least one Tiger of some description; whether that is the King Tiger or one of the Tiger I's that they own, well your guess is as good as mine."

Darjeeling frowned, "It's unlikely that the Headmistress has changed her doctrine just because she lost against her youngest daughter, so it is more likely that we'll be facing tanks like the Jagdpanther, King Tiger, perhaps even their Maus."

Scott raised an eyebrow, "When tanks like the Panzer IV, Jagdpanzer 38(t) and the Type 89B quite handily took it out with only damage from the Maus trying to crush it causing the 38(t) to give up the ghost. Is Shiho idiotic or insane?" he exclaimed.

Darjeeling shrugged, "Stubborn is what I think you're looking for,"

Scott sighed and rubbed his brow, "Right, so assume they're going to use their Maus, as well as their Elfant and King Tigers and throw in a Panzer III for scouting purposes, maybe a Jagdtiger as well, their biggest guns and strongest armour against us."

Darjeeling tapped on a laptop and caused the tanks in question to appear on the wall courtesy a projector, "Right, so the Centurion is a must, the gun can knock out the Maus from the rear,"

Scott interrupted, "Anywhere if we can hit the turret traverse mechanism,"

Darjeeling nodded, "Right, the three Comets and two FVs would bring us up to six, leaving four spots open,"

Scott pinched the bridge of his nose, "What about an AT2 and three Matildas?"

Darjeeling quirked an eyebrow, "Explain," she demanded.

Scott quickly supplied, "The AT2 has a six pounder gun and the same armour that the Centurion has at the front, 152mm, now, nothing can survive a hit from the Maus' main gun, but it can pen it from the rear if the APCR is loaded. The Matilda has the Armour, if angled, to bounce many shots, should they land a hit, which is unlikely."

Darjeeling looked even more confused, so Scott explained, "I calculated rough percentages for accuracy, surprisingly, KMM only has about an eight percent chance of hitting a target in the finals and far less than that if they want to disable it with disables being considered anything from the flag popping to tracking the tank. For comparison, Ōarai in your match had a twenty-six per cent chance of hitting and approximately fifteen per cent of those hits caused the tanks to be disabled, this number jumps with training and, by that final match, their accuracy is about sixty per cent and fifty per cent based on what I could see."

Darjeeling was shocked, "Where do we fall?"

Scott grimaced, "Admittedly, far better than schools such as Saunders and Pravda, but we're at about fifty and thirty-three by my maths," then he sighed, "And then there is Anglerfish…"

"Oh?" Darjeeling asked, intrigued.

Scott leaned back in his chair, "The gunner for Anglerfish, Hana Isuzu, has a ninety-five per cent chance of hitting a target based on practice records and match data, with a probability of knocking you out of the match of fifty-fifty."

One could hear a pin drop at Scott's pronouncement of the numbers. But Scott stood and walked to the wall with the pictures of the tanks that they though Kuromorimine would deploy, "Contingencies should be made just in case they throw us for a loop."

Darjeeling nodded, "Yes, but that can wait for now, until we get the tank commanders involved at least."

It was Scott's turn to raise an eyebrow, "And what do you have in mind to do?"

Darjeeling just offered a smile as she walked over to the door and made sure it was locked before saying, "Well, let's see if you can keep up."

Scott's other eyebrow joined his other one but that was all he could do as Darjeeling moved with rather surprisingly speed and began kissing him very passionately. Of course, this took away most of his brain power, but he was able to use what brain power was left to reciprocate her affections.

Scott wasn't quite sure what he was expecting, but he jumped slightly when he felt Darjeeling's hand slip under his shirt. This caused Darjeeling to pull back, "Did I…" she began before Scott cut her off.

"Fine, wasn't expecting is all," he whispered before beginning their passion again. Darjeeling was quite eager to push as far as he was willing to go and soon her tongue was licking his lips, begging for entrance, which he was more than willing to give.

Soon, their passion came to a head when Darjeeling, pressed tightly against Scott, felt something press against her leg. Pulling back to catch her breath and discover what it was, Darjeeling turned as red as the St Gloriana Sensha-dō uniform. Scott though, was slightly confused until he followed her gaze and flushed red as well, "What can I say?" he murmured, "You arouse me."

Darjeeling, despite, or rather because of her embarrassment, smirked, and began her assault on Scott anew.

* * *

If anyone suspected what the two commanders got up to that night, no one voiced their suspicions, even when neither Scott nor Darjeeling couldn’t look at the other without turning the colour of a tomato. However, the lack of gossip could very well have been down to the fact that they were three days away from their match with Kuromorimine.

True to what one of the last thoughts they had before the night they had, Scott and Darjeeling called a meeting of the Tank Commanders, everyone was just getting settled when Scott rose, "Good morning everyone, last night, Commander Darjeeling and I went over several possible events that could come to pass in three days time," Scott said.

Darjeeling rose and turned on a projector which showed the battlefield, showing that it was the same that Ōarai had faced Kuromorimine on during the finals, "This is our field of battle, our starting positions marked, leaving the only unknown variable: the tanks that Kuromorimine will field."

Scott picked up seamlessly from Darjeeling, "We currently have three possibilities as to our opponent's composition. Option one: They choose to field a similar line-up to that which they fielded against Ōarai, heavy tanks, super-heavy tanks, and the like. Option two: They learned a small amount from the thrashing Ōarai gave them and field a mix of lighter tanks such as the Panzer III and IV while still fielding one or two of their heavy tanks. Finally: They've completely changed their tactics and field only lighter tanks."

"As this is the first round, we are limited to ten tanks, and we believe that the Centurion, the three Comets, two FV304s, one AT2 and three Matilda IIs would suffice as our Cromwells are in various states of repair and the Churchill VII could become a liability as it did last time," Darjeeling began, taking over for her parched lover, "Since Cadet Hall is unable to crew his position in the Centurion, and we believe that we shouldn't take the Churchill, Captain Perkins will take over driving duties until Cadet Hall is well enough to rejoin us, and I will command from the Centurion."

This shocked the Gloriana Girls as Darjeeling had always favoured the slower Infantry Tanks over the Cavalry Tanks. But Scott kept the surprises rolling, "Jasmine, operational control of the Comet Squads will be transferred to Lady Rosehip post-battle, we are giving her this battle off considering the events of the past week have put her through one hell of an emotional rollercoaster,"

Jasmine nodded, "Right brother, how is she doing now anyway?"

Scott smiled, "Actually, a hell of a lot better now that Foster has been released from casualty."

Darjeeling smiled as well, but focused them back on the task at hand, "Thoughts on tactics?" she asked the group.

A couple of people had some ideas, but Rhys spoke up, "Why not hunker in the town and reverse side-scrape to take them down? It eliminates the advantage of the lighter tanks, but also makes it that much harder for their heavy tanks to blast us to the next town."

Scott thought for a moment, "We could also hold some tanks to the side streets, flank them that way," he remarked before turning to Rhys, "An excellent idea Rhys, bravo,"

Peppermint though saw a flaw in the plan, "What if they account for it and spread out to counter?"

Darjeeling frowned, it could happen after all but they had nothing else, "Even the best-laid plans rarely survive contact with the enemy," she muttered.

Scott raised an eyebrow, "Quoting Eisenhower?" he chuckled, before getting serious, "Darjeeling is correct though, the best-laid plans often fail and fail spectacularly, it is rather our ability to think on our feet that would carry the day then."

Rukuriri though had a final question, "And if they bring their Maus?"

Darjeeling and Scott grimaced, though the Centurion could, theoretically, take the Maus out, it would be hit or miss. So to answer her, Scott said the only word that came to mind, "Pray."


	11. Chapter 11

The next three days passed uneventfully for them, practice consisted of street-to-street fighting, but other then that, nothing of note happened. On the day of the fight, all of St Gloriana came out to see the first match of the Coed team. Scott and Darjeeling were hunched over a table finalising their strategy when a familiar voice called out, "Hello again Darjeeling!"

This caused Darjeeling to look up, "Miho! It's good to see you, how are you?"

Miho shrugged, "As well as I can be considering all things. This new influx of boys has made all of the girls that much harder to manage, some more than others." she mused.

Darjeeling's eyes shined in amusement, "Saori?" she asked.

Miho smirked, "Actually, no. The first-years on the other hand…" she replied.

Scott raised his head, "I think we're good Darling," he called.

This brought Miho's attention to Scott as Darjeeling nodded, "Good. Josh, take it to the commanders please." looking towards Josh.

Josh nodded and left, allowing Scott to walk over to Miho and Darjeeling where he smiled, "It's good to see you again Miho."

Miho's smile grew, "It's good to see you, Scott," she replied before sobering, "About your parents, I'm so sorry."

Scott's smile dimmed slightly, "Thank you Miho, but I'm just glad that I've got many happy memories to remember them by."

Miho nodded, "Yes, sometimes we say things regret, only to never get the chance to apologize for them," she murmured before drawing herself out of her introspection, even if Scott noticed it, "In any case, I look forward to seeing the two of you work together."

Scott chuckled, "I'm just the driver today Miho, the boy that was shot at the drawing ceremony was our driver for the Centurion."

Miho smirked, "Putting all of your skills to work then I see," she teased before growing serious, "I highly doubt my sister switched up her strategies, good luck!"

Scott and Darjeeling smiled and shouted their thanks to her as she walked over to her friends. Scott noticed Darjeeling glancing at him and asked her what was wrong, "Nothing," she replied, "I'm just thinking that proper introductions to Miho's friends would be in order after the battle."

Scott smiled, "I would like that, it's been a long while since I last spoke to Miho, and we were close when I was last here."

Just then, an announcement came over the loudspeaker, "Attention! Crews to your starting areas, Commanders and Vice Commanders, to the Greeting Area! The Battle is about to begin!"

Darjeeling and Scott walked over to the greeting area where Maho Nishizumi and Erika Itsumi were waiting. "Finally," Erika muttered.

Maho glared at her subordinate but chose to say nothing. Scott chose to speak up, "As I said at the drawing ceremony, it is good to see you again Maho,"

Maho nodded, "Yes, I had wondered what had happened to you since then."

Scott shrugged, "Eh, parents died, the Dukedom is under a regency until I turn twenty-one, I started dating Darjeeling, normal things for me."

Maho and Erika were astonished at Scott's unconcerned attitude towards his situation. Scott though continued, "I look forward to speaking with Miho after the battle to catch up with her, it has been ten years since we last talked."

At that moment, the judge approached and instructed them to bow, then dismissed them back to their tanks to begin things.

Scott and Darjeeling took their positions, and Darjeeling gave some last minute encouragements and reminders, "All tanks, remember the plan: rush to the town, and sell a victory dearly, Comet squad, obtain eyes on the Kuro tanks and await further instructions. FV squad, AT2, take up flanking positions on the main road's side streets, everyone else, let's ensure that we give it our all and keep their minds off of the ambush."

All tank commanders gave the affirmative and then the Match Start flare fired, Darjeeling looked up, "Fortune favours the bold, or so they say," she muttered before looking ahead, "Ahead full Mr Perkins,"

Scott grinned, "Aye Ma'am."

* * *

In the Kuromorimine camp, similar preparations were underway as Maho and Erika were in their respective tanks, "Same plan as we always use ladies: find them and blast them to the next town, no retreat!" Maho instructed.

Then the Match Start flare fired and Maho shouted, "Panzer Vor!"

* * *

In the stands, Miho was sitting with her girls watching the battle unfold. Well, Mako was napping as was her norm, but Saori, Hana, and Yukari were watching attentively. Saori had a question on her mind, "Miporin, do you think St Gloriana has a chance?"

Miho thought a moment, the fact that Darjeeling had not only allowed for most of her tank force in the first round to be replaced by forces from the boys, she also moved her flag to the Centurion, certainly helped her. However, the fact of the matter was that she was facing off against a Jagdpanther, Elefant, Jagdtiger, two Tiger II's, three Panthers, and a Panzer III J. While that would have been a tall order for most, Kuro had also brought their Maus, and they were looking for redemption for their performance in the finals. Miho eventually settled on, "I believe they will have a tough fight, but, from what I can remember about Scott, he'll put up a good fight."

Yukari had gone on what Anglerfish team called a "Panzer High" when she had seen what St Gloriana was using and couldn't help adding in her thoughts, "With the Centurion using the 20 pounder gun, it can knock out the Maus with relative ease. But I think the match hinges on the Comets if they can stay in the match, they would be a force to be reckoned with."

Miho absently nodded, remembering something Scott had told her years ago about the tactics he had dubbed as "The Rings of Defense" "If you are seen, do not be hit," she muttered.

The girls looked at her curiously, and Miho elaborated, "Scott told me years ago about some tactical doctrine he dubbed 'The Rings of Defense': 'If you can, do not be there; if you are there, do not be seen; if you are seen, do not be hit; if you are hit, do not be penetrated; if you are penetrated, do not be knocked out; if you are knocked out, do not be killed.' that is why there is a difference in what the boys brought and what the girls brought in terms of comparison. Scott stressed the importance of the line 'If you are seen, do not be hit,' while Darjeeling stresses the line 'if you are hit, do not be penetrated,' it will be interesting to see the doctrines clash."

Saori looked doubtful, "Will they though?" she asked before continuing, "If he is as smart as you claim he is, he might just offer some observations rather than orders since he has no experience fighting Kuromorimine."

Miho smirked, "Doesn't he?" she replied, "He would often play strategy games with Maho and me when we were younger and she never won, either getting beat soundly or bled to a draw between them before I swept the floor with what remained of them."

* * *

Scott looked as if he had heard Miho, "Let's see if Maho has matured her strategies any since we were children, shall we?" he muttered before finishing his positioning and popping his hatch to allow so fresh air into his compartment.

St Gloriana had, by good fortune, beaten Kuromorimine to the town and set up in position before the Comets made contact with the opposition. A few minutes passed, many of the crews had decided to pop their hatches to keep a better lookout and get some fresh air. All of a sudden, the radio blared, "Commander! We've made contact with the entire hostile force! They brought the bloody Maus and they're angry!" Jasmine shouted into her radio.

Darjeeling though, was quite calm, at least on the outside, "Calm yourself, Commander Dawson, your job is to draw them in, do not take a shot if you do not feel the need to."

"Roger," Jasmine grumbled.

Scott groaned "Ugh, she'll never let this go,"

Slowly, the crews reentered their tanks. Once Darjeeling closed her hatch and sighed, "Our worst fears have been realised," she murmured.

Josh snorted, "Let's be thankful they don't have a Jagdpanzer E 100 to throw at us."

Darjeeling and Scott glared at him. Stan spoke up first though, "Joshua, you're not helping. Just shoot the gun," he said, exasperated.

Josh winced, but before he could say anything, they could hear shots being fired. Over the radio, Jasmine called out, "Flag on Tiger II at the rear of the formation, Jagdtiger, Jagdpanther, Elefant, Maus heading the formation. Double line. Panthers and other Tiger in the second line. Get ready, we're coming in hot!"

Darjeeling nodded, "If your shot would be ineffective, aim for the tracks, immobilize them for the flankers."

Before she finished, the Comets blew past them and ducked into a side street. Then, they saw the Jagdtiger, Jagdpanther, Elefant, and the Maus. Darjeeling simply said, "Fire."

Seemingly as one person, the Centurion, Comets and the Matildas fired their first salvo. Much to their surprise, two of the Comets landed a knockout hit to a Panther each in the second row, and the Centurion tracked the Jagdtiger.

At this, the Kuro tanks unleashed a barrage that, if it had been aimed properly, could have done a great deal of damage. As it was, one of the Comets was tracked and a Matilda reported difficulties in turning the turret.

* * *

Miho leaned back in her seat. The crowd was stunned, they had been expecting a slaughter and they were getting it, just not how they expected. In the first volleys from each team, Kuromorimine was down two tanks with a third unable to move while St Gloriana only lost the mobility of one of their tanks. Saori's eyebrows were in her hairline as she asked Miho, "Is that what you are talking about Miporin?"

Miho shook her head, "Just wait."

* * *

The wait would be worth it, after another relatively ineffective volley from Kuromorimine that actually managed to knock out the immobilized Comet. Darjeeling sprung her trap, "Ms Robbins, execute now!"

Terre smirked in her tank, "With pleasure commander," then she tapped her driver, "Let's end this."

The FV304s sprung into action and the AT2 lumbered behind them. Because of where the Kuro tanks were, they actually caught them in a pincer move. Maho was standing out of her hatch when she looked behind her and saw the three tanks. Her mask slipped for a split second and fear crossed her features, but before she could issue any orders, the AT2 fired a single shot and the distinctive POP of the flag could be heard. Then it came over the radio, "Kuromorimine flag tank disabled. St Gloriana Wins!"

At that, the battlefield became as still as a tomb, the Kuromorimine contingent was in shock and St Gloriana was relieved.

The stands were just as shocked, except for Miho who was smiling. Eventually, the St Gloriana students came out of their shock and began clapping and cheering.

In the Centurion, Darjeeling and Scott slumped in their seats, the adrenaline leaving their bodies. It took them a moment, but eventually, Darjeeling said, "Take us back to the garages Captain."

Scott mutely nodded and began driving back. His thoughts were racing. Supposedly Kuromorimine was one of, if not the best team in the league, Ōarai being a strong contender for that title.

He didn't have long to ponder on the matter as they reached the garages soon thereafter. The members of the Sensha-dō team that couldn't participate in the match greeted them enthusiastically, they had never won against Kuromorimine and so they were already being celebrated as celebrities. Many of the boys had struck up _March of the British Grenadiers_ for the girls and everyone was in good spirits. Then Scott noticed something out of the corner of his eye, turning to see what it was, he nudged Darjeeling when he realised that it was Maho and Erika.

Walking over to them, completely unnoticed by the celebrating St Gloriana students, Scott offered a sympathetic smile to Maho, but Darjeeling spoke, "It was a good match Maho,"

Maho took a deep breath, it was then that Scott noticed her mask had completely shattered, this concerned him so he turned to Darjeeling and asked, "Love, could I speak with Maho alone?"

Darjeeling nodded and, much to their surprise, Erika gave them some space as well. Scott then looked at Maho, "I know it's been a decade since we've so much as spoke to each other, but I am concerned Maho, is there something wrong?"

Maho trembled, but she remembered that Scott was willing to stand up for what he believed was right. So she began, "Scott, I've had one championship, and to Mother, that's what matters. We've been beaten by Pravda, then Ōarai, and now you. I'm worried what Mother will do because I want Miho to be free to do what she wants to, not what is expected of her as a Nishizumi Heiress."

Scott frowned, "A mother should offer unconditional love to their children, no matter if they succeed or fail. However, it is unlikely that Shiho will do anything drastic as she does need an heiress and with all the animosity between them, I doubt Miho would even consider it." then he rubbed his brow, "Is there anyone whom you feel comfortable around? A friend or someone more? If you share your worries with someone who knows you better than me, then you'll do better."

Maho looked down and Scott's heart dropped, afraid of what she would say. But when she finally spoke, his heart would remain down in spite of it, "Yes, but Mother wouldn't approve of it."

Scott's frown seemed to deepen, something that an observer would not have believed possible, "Why is that?"

Maho chose not to say anything, rather she looked away, but Scott followed her gaze and it became clearer to him, "You view your second as something more than a friend, don't you?" at Maho's nod, Scott's frown lessened, "Then talk to her! If she feels the same, then you'll cross that bridge when you get there. But just talk to someone about your troubles, no one expects you to carry the world on your shoulders."

Maho looked at him, "How did you do it?"

Scott thought for a moment, "You're talking about how I got Darjeeling as a girlfriend?" he asked and she nodded, "Well, we were going to shadow two members of our crew on their date, just to make sure everything went off well. When they couldn't go on the date, I asked her if she still wanted to go ahead with the plan."

Maho frowned, it would be impossible to do that, but she was certain that she could think of something. "Thank you, Scott, I better not keep you from your girl."

Scott smirked and said his farewells to Maho. he walked over to Darjeeling and rested his head on her's, "How'd things go Scott?" she asked.

Scott sighed, "Rather well, I hope."

Before Darjeeling could ask further, Terre approached them, "Scott, there is a man from the mainland wanting to speak with you, said it's about Archibald."

Scott frowned, but before he could say anything, the man came up to them, "Mr Perkins, it is my duty to inform you that your testimony has been rendered unnecessary."

Scott glared at this man, but he continued, undaunted, "The reason for this is the fact that Archibald Evans no longer resides in the Land of the Living."


	12. Chapter 12

_Last Time:_

_Before Darjeeling could ask further, Terre approached them, "Scott, there is a man from the mainland wanting to speak with you, said it's about Archibald."_

_Scott frowned, but before he could say anything, the man came up to them, "Mr Perkins, it is my duty to inform you that your testimony has been rendered unnecessary."_

_Scott glared at this man, but he continued, undaunted, "The reason for this is the fact that Archibald Evans no longer resides in the Land of the Living."_

* * *

Scott and the rest of the Yorkshire contingent were shocked at the man's pronouncement. However, Scott recovered first, "How so?" he asked.

The gentleman grimaced, "Well…"

* * *

_Yesterday: Tokyo Detention House, 2300 local time_

_Archibald Evans was fuming, the day before he had been released from medical after his beating at the hands of Rosehip, and instead of being released as he expected, he was sent here!_

_All of a sudden, a silky voice came from the darkness, "Mr Evans, you have failed us."_

_Archibald darted his eyes around, "If I could get out of here, I'll be able to complete our deal!" he replied, panicked._

_"It matters not what you say," the voice replied, "Your deeds speak for itself, you are a loose end we cannot afford."_

* * *

****Present day,** **

"An hour after the cameras came back online, a guard walked by Mr Evans' cell and saw him hanging from his light fixture," the man concluded, "After determining that he was, in fact, dead, we checked the audio logs and determined that a member of the Yakuza had disrupted the security system and entered Mr Evans' cell and killed him."

Scott didn't say a word, he was torn between feeling jubilation that he would not have to live his life in fear and the normal sadness at the loss of a fellow human. Darjeeling recognised Scott's quandary and so dismissed the gentleman. It took Scott a while before he noticed that he and Darjeeling were alone, but when he did, he asked, "Does it make me a bad person if I say that I am glad he's dead?"

Darjeeling frowned, "Scott, you could never be a bad person. He was making your life hell, anyone would feel relief."

While this was happening, Terre, Josh, Stan, Foster, Pekoe, Rosehip and Assam were discussing that turn of events. "Well," Terre began, "That was unexpected."

Stan scoffed, "I'll say, saves us from dealing with it."

Terre chose to ignore Stan for the moment, choosing instead to look at Scott and Darjeeling holding each other, a single tear running down her cheek. This shocked the boys as she had never shown any other emotion other than varying stages of anger. Eventually, Terre whispered, "Why? Why didn't you let me see my brother except when he spirited you away?" at this point, she looked down as her dam broke and a deluge of tears ran down her face, "Now he's suffered for that, even with me by his side at Yorkshire." she muttered.

This brought confusion to everyone, though Josh seemed close to piecing it together, though it wasn't until Terre spoke again that he did, "Damn you, Rose, you made it impossible for his family to be by his side when he needed it most!" she whispered.

Josh's eyes widened in realisation, "Wait! You're Scott's half-sister?" he cried.

This drew the attention of Scott and Darjeeling and they began walking over to see what the commotion was about. However, Terre spoke up first, "Yes, Joshua. My mother was a servant for the late Duke and my father was the late Duke, I'm sure you can piece together what happened for that to happen..."

Before she could continue, Scott spoke up, "Indeed I can, as it also explains some things I observed about my mother and father," he glanced at Darjeeling and thought for a moment, "Normally, when Dukes and Duchesses host an event, they are both present to greet their guests. However, my mother, after I was born, seemed to distance herself from father," here he paused to collect himself, "You know, Dolgoch Falls was the first time since my birth that mother and father had been seen out in public together."

No one really knew what to say after that, but Scott pressed on, "Terre, I will not hold this against you, and I would be happy to acknowledge you as my sister. I only ask that next time, don't keep such a big secret from me."

Terre gave a sad smile as she embraced Scott. After her mother passed away two years ago, she had grown distant, though not to the degree that Nonna had grown with Scott, and, while the times that Scott had smiled before meeting Darjeeling could be count on a single hand, the times that Terre had smiled could be counted on one head, yet that also seemed to be on the rise now.

* * *

The next day, Scott and Darjeeling were walking towards where the _Zuikaku_ was docked. Keeping to her word, Darjeeling had arranged for them to have tea with some of the Ōarai Sensha-dō team, all in the spirit of sportsmanship of course.

Soon, they were sitting with the crew of Anglerfish team and Turtle team. The conversation was light and soon, it turned to the tournament. Ōarai had to face off against Chi-Ha-Tan next weekend, but today was the Saunders/Anzio match, so they had it running in the background. Scott looked to Miho, "You've fought both Saunders and Anzio, right?" to which Miho nodded, so Scott continued, "Who do you think will win?"

Just as Miho was about to speak, the announcer on the TV shouted, "Saunders wins!"

Darjeeling raised an eyebrow and Scott's jaw dropped, he also couldn't stop himself from saying, "The hell?"

Darjeeling simply sighed, "Language dear," she muttered.

Scott winced, "Yes dear, sorry dear," he replied.

Miho smirked, "Whipped already Scott?"

"Of course Miho," Darjeeling said with a wide smile on her face, "It didn't take much training."

Scott was indigent, but Darjeeling just placed her hand on his elbow and whispered into his ear, "If you're good, we'll remove a layer tonight." this caused him to clamp down on his mouth quite quickly. The Ōarai girls, of course, noticed Scott's sudden change in demeanour, but wisely decided that discretion was the better part of valour and chose not to say anything.

The conversation was light after that, discussing the influx of boys to their respective schools and such. After an hour, they took their leave and began their trek back to the _Ark Royal_ was docked. Upon their return, they were greeted by an amusing sight: some of the members of the Sensha-dō team were musicians, and they had taken out their instruments and most of the others were dancing. Josh and Assam were spinning around, Pekoe and Stan were simply swaying side to side, but Foster and Rosehip were just off to the side as he couldn't stand yet. As it was, they were the first to notice them and nodded towards them, after nodding back, Scott turned to Darjeeling and asked, "Shall we join them milady?"

Darjeeling smirked, "I think we shall my dear," she replied as she took him by the hand and off they went. As they passed each dancing couple, they were greeted briefly, but for the most part, they were ignored as most people were focused on the person they were dancing with.

Soon, one of the members of the band noticed them and nudged his conductor, who got the message. After finishing the song they were doing, he turned and said, "Would Captain Perkins please come forth?"

Scott groaned, knowing what they were going to ask, but went up anyways. Once he got there, he found that he was right, as the conductor whispered to him, "Moon please," and so, this was the song he sang:

"I know how the moon must feel / Looking down from the heavens / Smiling at the silly things / We put ourselves through / Missing magic each day / and not seeing the wonder / That's how the moon must feel.

I know how the moon must feel / Starry eyed and contented / Everything is beautiful / as it all should be / Far away from it all / Never meaning to hurry / That's how the moon must feel

From up there our worries must seem very small / Maybe that is why he wears a smile / I'm sure he knows if there is more to life / Wish I could be him for a while

I know how the moon must feel / When he makes someone happy. / That's the feeling I will feel / When you smile at me / I'll be floating on air / I'll be beaming with wonder / That's how the moon must feel."

After he finished, he quickly took his leave of the stage and back to Darjeeling's side amidst quite the applause. Darjeeling laid a hand on his arm and smiled, "You have a wonderful voice, Scott,"

Scott smirked, "Well I did promise a demonstration,"

"Indeed you did," she murmured as she leaned into him.

Off to the side, Foster and Rosehip were watching proceedings between the two lovers, "Well," Foster remarked, "That's him gone for quite a while."

Rosehip, who was sitting in his lap, nodded, "If there is one thing that can distract Darjeeling from anything better than quotes, it's good singing."

Foster smirked, "Scott's in a class all of his own, if he put his mind to it, he could publish music of his own, or he could make a career of singing."

Rosehip turned and looked at him with a raised eyebrow, "Why doesn't he?"

"He wants to become a teacher," he replied.

Rosehip raised her other eyebrow, "A teacher? Why?"

Foster shrugged, "I'm not sure, but it might have to do with the fact that he's really good the kids."

Scott and Darjeeling had, by this point, disappeared. "Five quid we won't see them until morning," Foster whispered.

Rosehip smirked, "You're on."

* * *

It turned out that Foster would win that bet. Darjeeling and Scott wouldn't be seen until Darjeeling was seen dragging Scott to the breakfast table at 0700. Scott noticed Rosehip trying to discreetly hand Foster a fiver and raised an eyebrow. Rosehip just sighed, "I made a bet against Foster, and I lost."

Darjeeling was intrigued, "Oh? And what was the bet on?"

Scott grew nervous when he saw Foster's smirk, "Uh, Darling? I don't think we want to know."

Foster though, couldn't contain himself, "I bet that you wouldn't be seen until morning while Rosehip bet that it would be afternoon before anyone saw you."

Scott and Darjeeling both blushed bright red and everyone had a laugh at their expense. Everyone was having a good time, but in the backs of their minds, they were counting down the days to their confrontation with Saunders, four weeks away...

* * *

****The song Scott sings does not belong to me, all rights to "I know how the moon must feel" belong to its owner.** **


	13. Chapter 13

Very little happened for the next three weeks as the crews of the Sensha-dō team trained for the battle with Saunders. Darjeeling and the rest of the commanders meeting every other day to discuss battle plans. Scott and the rest of the Yorkshire contingent offering limited comments, mostly based on the American Military Doctrine of WWII, these were further exacerbated when they were told that Saunders' forces are M4 Shermans and it's variants. Scott was mentally debating if bringing the Centurion would have been considered overkill when Darjeeling called their attention, "It has come through that they acquired a T28 prototype for use,"

Scott sighed, "Really?" he asked, "Is that the only variation in their lineup?"

Darjeeling nodded, but it was Rukuriri who spoke up, "Let's just hope Kay will be able to keep Alisa from bringing her wiretapping gear."

Scott and all of the rest of the boys slapped their brows, "Seriously! Do we not have safeguards in place for such an event?" Terre asked.

Darjeeling raised an eyebrow, "How do you mean?"

Terre sighed, "Codes, some form of encryption, falsification of information, that sort of thing."

Recognition flashed in her eyes, "Ah, I see. To that I say that we do use hand signals to communicate in the main formation whilst the scouts come up with a code every time we go against them."

Scott smirked, "I figured there was some form of contingency in order, now I sort of hope that they do deploy their tapping equipment, as it will lead us to that tank."

Before they could say anything about it, Jasmine spoke up, "Speaking of contingencies," she began, getting everyone's attention, "With Ōarai going against Pravda in a little over a week, what is the contingency for handling Anglerfish?"

Scott and Darjeeling actually paled. This, of course, got their attention quickly. Josh, as Scott's former SiC, was part of the meeting to offer further insight into Yorkshire's abilities, and he chose to comment, "It seems as though you actually fear them Scott, what's up?"

Scott grimaced, "Anglerfish is a combination of people that, if separated from each other, are no more remarkable than the other," he began.

Darjeeling picked up where he left off, "Together, though, they can become unstoppable."

At everyone's skeptical looks, Scott continued, "Let's break it down by person, shall we?" he asked, and he received nods from all, "Well, let's start with the Radio Operator, Saori Takebe, though in a relatively thankless position, she manages to coordinate between all of the tanks of Ōarai, not an easy task, which is why we split radio relays between company groups."

Darjeeling nodded, "Yes, and their Driver, Mako Reizei, she has an eidetic memory from what I can tell as that is the only explanation for how she managed to understand how to drive a Panzer IV with no previous experience and only a cursory glance at the manual."

Seeing their audience take note of that, Scott sat down in his chair, but picked up the narrative, "The gunner, Hana Isuzu, well, she could probably take a rifle and nail a fly at two thousand meters, and make it look easy."

"All while Yukari Akiyama, the loader, kept her gun firing," Darjeeling remarked.

Scott nodded, before massaging his temple, "Then there is Miho herself," he muttered.

One of the boys from Yorkshire raised the question, "Sir? What is so special about her?"

Scott rolled his eyes, "Two things laddy; firstly, she is a Nishizumi, they are naturally adept with tanks," he remarked before looking up, "Secondly, she taught me most of what I know."

This quieted everyone quite quickly. Scott continued though, "I am but a small fish in comparison to her, I suspect that it will be Darjeeling's strategy that wins the day for that battle, along with a large amount of luck," he remarked. Then he sighed, "But we are getting ahead of ourselves, let's us first complete the battle with Saunders first before we worry about Miho."

Darjeeling shut her eyes, she was exhausted, though she had started to delegate her duties to Scott, she was still doing quite a bit and it was draining her. Scott noticed her disposition and decided to take action, "Everyone! Dismissed!" he ordered.

Upon everyone's departure, Scott walked over to Darjeeling and started rubbing her shoulders. "You're tense, what's wrong?" he asked.

Darjeeling sighed, "It's been years since St Gloriana has won the first match of the season against a competent opponent, now they all look to us to deliver a victory in the tournament. I don't know if I can handle it," she murmured.

Scott continued massaging her shoulders, he knew this would be a sticking point for Darjeeling forever, she always felt as if she had to carry everyone's burdens at all times. To be frank with himself, Scott knew he was just as bad as Darjeeling, but where he knew his limits, Darjeeling didn't seem to. Eventually, Scott sighed, "Let's go over the possible and real, Darling," he remarked, before resting his head on hers, "Saunders is a guarantee, but, as you told us, they have no variation in their line up, making our job much easier, moreover, even when they cheat, they fail."

Darjeeling knew he was right, but she couldn't shake the feeling something was going to happen, "Kay is a decent commander," she replied.

Scott nodded, "I'll give her that, but her tanks are mass-produced, we can handle it. Then after Saunders, we enter into the theoretical, Pravda's undoing will be Katyusha's temper, if Nonna can rein her in, then she will be a difficult person to defeat, but, well, it's Katyusha."

Darjeeling nodded, and Scott continued, "Ōarai is perhaps the most dangerous, but we would outnumber them two to one and you have beat her before."

Darjeeling rolled her eyes, "Scott, her sister couldn't beat her outnumbering her by a far greater margin and besides, my victory was a fluke, aided by the fact that it was their first battle in two decades."

Scott thought back a few weeks to the Ōarai/Chi-Ha-Tan battle.

* * *

_Scott, Darjeeling, Stan and Pekoe got to where they could observe the screen while being out of the way. As Stan and Pekoe began setting up, Darjeeling and Scott looked across the field and observed the Chi-Ha-Tan arsenal, Scott was amazed, all he saw was type 95s and 97s "Is that all they have?" he asked._

_Darjeeling nodded, "Yes, quite a shame really, they used to have a lot of renown in Sensha-dō, now, this is all they can do."_

_Scott frowned, there wasn't much sport in battling such a disadvantaged opponent, but you made do with what you have and hope for the best._

_Soon, it was time for the battle to begin. Miho and the Chi-Ha-Tan commander bowed to one another and the match began. Unfortunately for the spectators, it was over quickly due to the fact that the Chi-Ha-Tan forces resorted to using a full frontal charge against the Ōarai tanks. With predictable results as well._

* * *

Scott shrugged, "Be that as it may," he began, "There is a psychological effect when someone comes up against an opponent that had beaten them before, we'll just have to see what that is for them should we face them."

Darjeeling sighed, she was getting quite relaxed thanks to Scott, "I don't even know which school would face us in the final, Jatkosota, BC Freedom, Koala or Maple," she whispered.

Scott lent down to whisper into her ear, "It matters not right now love, you are wearing yourself out worrying about futures that might not come to pass, and there are other things we could be doing,"

It was like a switch was thrown in Darjeeling, as she went from being completely drained to quite… expressive. They would be occupied for the next few hours.

* * *

During that time, Josh and Rosehip went to find Foster and Stan, knowing full well that Assam and Pekoe would be with them. Josh turned to Rosehip, "Rosehip, were you part of the force that fought with Ōarai last season? Captain Perkins would know since he memorised your battles, but I can't remember,"

Rosehip shook her head, "No I wasn't. Darjeeling wanted to be honourable towards them since it was their first battle so brought only her Churchill and four Matildas, but I did watch them."

Josh raised a brow as they turned a corner and found the group, "Really? What was your impression?"

Assam was confused, "Impression of what?" she asked.

Josh turned to his girlfriend, "Ōarai, my dear. You see, during the brief today, Jasmine brought up her concern about them, considering they are the champs after all, and, much to our surprise, the Commander and Captain both turned as white as snow."

Pekoe nodded, "And why wouldn't they?" she asked.

This brought everyone's attention to her, and Josh asked her to elaborate, "Darjeeling and I watched all of Ōarai’s matches in person, even the Pravda one," she mentioned, shuttering briefly, "As they went on, they grew better and, by the final match, they seemed to bend traditional thinking and beat a team that, by all rights, should have beaten them into the next week."

The boys looked at each other, growing quite concerned. But it was Stan that voiced their concerns, "As far as we can tell, Ōarai has been using common sense as their tactics, at least in the final match and their most recent match, are the other schools so regimented that they are inflexible in their strategies?"

Assam nodded, "Look at it like this, Kuromorimine was the Champions for nine _years_ straight, not seasons, years. Then at the start of the year, Pravda wins the Winter Sensha-dō Season Tournament. Follow this up with the fact that Ōarai, a relative nobody, start their team for the spring season and win that season, facing Kuro in the finals. This season, Kuro didn't even make it out of the first round." she then looked out across the open field at some of the team who were talking as they performed maintenance on their tanks, "Sensha-dō is changing, it started with Ōarai coming from nowhere and now, not even Lady Nishizumi could stop boys joining us in Sensha-dō, though most are glad for it," she murmured as she laid her head against Josh's chest and shut her eyes.

Josh rubbed her back, and Stan nodded, "Indeed, she does seem slightly behind on the times, is there a reason for it?"

Pekoe sighed, "Probably, but only Maho and possibly Miho would know for certain."

Rhys came up to the group, "Afternoon ladies," he said before turning to Josh, "do you remember what the commanders wanted us to do for practice?"

Josh furrowed his brow, but it was Rosehip who answered, "You know, I don't think they told us, Captain Perkins just dismissed us," she replied.

Rhys frowned, "Now the next question: do I go find him?"

Assam shook her head, "No, since Darjeeling isn't here, then you don't."

Rhys looked confused, "Why would the Commander's presence be essential to whether I go looking for the Captain? If she were here, I'd just ask her."

Foster sighed, "Sometimes Rhys, you're too innocent for your own good," he muttered. At Rhys' raised eyebrow, he continued, "Rhys, you would most likely come across them in a state of undress."

Rhys turned a bright red and simply said, "Oh," before walking off.

Josh shook his head, "One day," he murmured. Then he turned to Foster, "You didn't see the Commander today, and to be frank, I'm concerned."

Assam and Pekoe glanced at each other, fear was written on their faces, but it was Rosehip's comments that did them in, "Agreed, I fear she may burn out not more than a few days after the match with Saunders should we win," she remarked.

At this, they both paled significantly, so much so, that Josh and Stan held on to them quite tightly, as they were worried they might faint. After they regained their senses, Assam spoke up, "Is there anything we can do?"

Foster was pensive, "There is very little we can do," he finally said, causing everyone to turn to him, "We should not treat her any differently than normal, and even then, we can only help when asked. Though, we should keep a subtle eye on her, just to be safe."

Everyone agreed with that plan and then headed off to prepare for the Saunders match in two days...


	14. Tanks: St Gloriana and Saunders

****St Gloriana** **   
****Churchill VII-Flag Tank: Commander Darjeeling** **

****Centurion III-Field Command Tank: Captain Perkins** **

****Crusader III x2-Forward Scouts** **

****A34 Comet x3-Attack Forces: Commanded by Rosehip** **

****Matilda II x3- Attack Forces: Commanded by Rukuriri** **

* * *

****Saunders** **

****M4 Sherman x8-Main stay tank: Commanded by Kay** **

****M4A1(76)-Flag Tank: Commanded by Alisa** **

****M4 VC Firefly-Served as Sniper: Commanded by Naomi** **

* * *

Totals: St Gloriana: 10 Tanks, Saunders: 10 Tanks


	15. Chapter 15

Soon it was the morning of the match against Saunders. As was the morning custom for the crews of the Churchill, the Centurion, Terre and Rosehip, they were eating a light breakfast before heading out for the garages. As was also customary, at least in recent days, Darjeeling and Scott were sleeping in. Josh smirked, "Well," he began, "Who's turn is it?"

That smirk was quickly wiped off his face as Foster turned to him and said, "I do believe that it is your turn, my dear brother."

Josh groaned, "Oh for family's sake," he muttered, before standing up, "Alright, I'll do it."

Josh walked over to Scott's room and knocked on the door, "Milord? Milady? It is already 0900, we only have one-half an hour before we are leaving for the garages!"

Inside the room, Scott and Darjeeling were in each other's arms, granted, they were awake and had been for some time, they had just been too lazy to bother getting out of bed, at least until Josh shouted through their door. Scott sighed, "Alright Josh, we'll be right there!" he shouted back.

As they got out of bed, they heard Josh run off. Scott smirked, "Given how they act, they must think we're in a state of nature," he remarked.

Darjeeling stared at her boyfriend, "And are we not?" she replied.

Scott looked at her, while she was in a simple nightgown, he was clad in sleep pants and was shirtless, "Point taken my dear."

After they got dressed, with only a few minutes to spare, the group arrived at the garages, where the team was waiting for them. After greeting them, they all mounted up and drove off the ship to the starting zone.

* * *

The battlefield today wasn't that dissimilar from the battlefield Ōarai and Saunders had fought on: lightly forested, rolling hills, and a small stream running through it. Scott stood up out of the Centurion's commander's hatch and took in the view. Darjeeling had mentioned her bad feeling to him and it was weighing on his mind. Josh popped his head out of his hatch, "Milord?" he asked, catching his attention, "The Commander wishes for you to join her."

Scott nodded and lept out of the tank and walked over to Darjeeling, Josh, however, turned to his brother, "Why do I feel as though I caught Lord Vader on a good day?"

Foster turned to him, concerned, "That bad?" he asked.

Josh sighed, "Well, I do not think it was a St Petersburg, but it was worse than Berlin, that's for sure."

Stan poked his head out of his hatch, "What's worse than Berlin?"

"Cap's mood Stan, he didn't say anything when I told him about the Commander's orders, he just… well, he stood up and walked off," Josh replied.

Stan's eyes widened, "Waedlyd uffern; mae hyn yn union fel y gwaedlyd Ffrainc eto"

Josh frowned, "France? What happened in France?"

Stan sighed, "Long story short, Jasmine was worried about his first match in the International Junior League and told him about it, and that match was one of the cited incidents that led to the suspension of the European Tankery Federation."

Josh and Foster started to worry, they had heard about a match in France that got European Tankery cancelled, but there had never been many details released.

* * *

While the boys were talking, Scott made it to where Darjeeling and Kay were talking. Darjeeling smiled, "Scott, this is Kay, Kay, this is my second in command and boyfriend Scott," she said.

Kay gave her usual boisterous smile, "Hiya Scott, hopefully ,my command staff will be here in a moment."

As she was saying that, two girls and a boy dressed in a US Marine uniform turned the corner. Darjeeling raised an eyebrow, "Impressive timing," she remarked.

Kay turned around after adopting a confused face, then she perked up, "Naomi, Alisa, Jack…" she began.

Jack's face though, brightened when he saw Scott, "Captain Perkins! I didn't know you were here in Japan!" he exclaimed.

Scott smirked, "Of course Jack, we haven't had Sensha-dō in Europe for several years but the teams were still around. As soon as the Headmaster determined that St Gloriana was receptive to receiving us, well, he couldn't get us on the C-130 fast enough."

Jack smiled, then looked at Kay, "The good Captain here will be one tough nut to crack, though I feel confident," he remarked.

Scott gwaffed, "Ha, the master never teaches his pupil everything he knows."

Kay looked on in shock at their familiarity as Scott continued, "Regardless, you'll all be singing _Rule Britannia_ by the time we're done."

Jack grew smug, "I think you'll be singing _Stars and Stripes Forever_ actually," he replied.

Kay and Darjeeling just looked at each other, "Boys! Enough!" they ordered.

Properly chastised, the boys remained silent, and upon the completion of formalities, they parted ways, returning to their sides. As they were walking back, Darjeeling turned to Scott, "You know the boy?" she asked.

Scott nodded, "Aye, I do. Cadet-Sergeant Jack Williams, United States Marine Cadet Corps, good man, though a tad predictable."

Darjeeling nodded and Scott continued, "We toured the States around about two years ago, and that is where I met him, learning to be a tank commander, I taught him a few tricks for the battlefield and we parted ways, I had honestly forgotten about him until now."

Darjeeling nodded, "I see, well, let us hope that we can still win this one."

Scott nodded and they mounted their tanks. Their crews looked to them and Darjeeling spoke into the radio, "Right, we all remember the plan: Rosehip, Scott, take your forces 295. Rukuriri, we'll head 050. Vanilla, Cranberry, feel for it. Roll out on the command."

Each crew made final preparations and Foster knelt to Stan and whispered, "Still feels like France?"

Stan though, only grunted as the Match Start flare fired and the command came over the radio. As the team split, with the Comets and the Centurion heading towards the northwest, and the Matildas and Churchill heading northeast, Stan wondered if his feeling about the match were just paranoia.

Wondering a similar thing, Scott pushed his concerns to the back of his mind as he stood up from his hatch about ten minutes into the match and reached for the compartment that normally held binoculars. Unlike most officers, Scott preferred a spyglass as it gave him an advantage to quickly look at something close range without jarring his vision too badly. As he brought the glass to his eye, he noticed something odd on his left. Focusing on it, he noticed that the tank was a M4A1(76) variant, and was about to relay what he saw, when he noticed the blur of colour seeming to flap about in the wind. Upon closer inspection, he realised, it was the Flag Tank! "Bearing two-six-zero, seventy-six, Flag, one thousand meters, Fire at will." he ordered.

Then, it happened; the Centurion brought it's turret to bear on target and two cracks were heard, one from a 20 pounder, and one from a 76mm gun. It would forever go as a mystery as to which shell hit it's target first, but as Foster was loading a second shell into the gun, he got kicked in the face by Scott and as he was about to ask what the hell happened, he noticed that Scott was no longer in the tank, "All stop!" he shouted.

Rosehip heard Foster's shout over the radio and not a second later heard "Saunders' Flag Tank disabled, St Gloriana wins!" over it as well. So she popped her head out of her hatch to see what had happened. She was not in anyway prepared for what she saw: Scott was laying on the ground in an awkward way, a way that a human spine could not cope with. As she got closer after dismounting from her tank, she saw strips of his uniform strewn about the ground. Then she got to his side and was terrified at what she saw: Scott's torso was bleeding at an alarming rate. Finally, as Foster was just about to pop his head out of his hatch, she cried out "Medic!"

* * *

On the other side of the battlefield, Darjeeling was wondering at what was going on over with Scott, first she hears Foster's all stop, then she hears that they had won the match. Then, all of a sudden, a siren blares and one of the JSF officials came on the radio, "All vehicles, attention! An All Stop order has been issued, though the match is over, we request that all participants remain in their tanks and stationary. Medical personnel are enroute to a medical emergency on the field, we thank you for your cooperation."

Darjeeling frowned, "Medical emergency? What could they be referring to?" she muttered.

Pekoe shrugged, "Search me, but our other squad might know."

Ruhuna sighed, "If they do, they're not answering the radio."

Suddenly, the radio came to life, "Hey Darjeeling?" Kay asked, "Do you happen to know what the All Stop was about?"

Darjeeling sighed, "I was hoping you might be able to answer that for me," she replied.

Kay sighed, "Blast it all, short match though, apparently that Centurion gunner might just give Ōarai some much needed competition."

Just as Darjeeling was about to reply, Kay began talking to someone in her tank, "...What do you mean 'she hit someone'? WHAT!"

Darjeeling, quite concerned, waited for a moment, then Kay turned her attention back to her, "Darjeeling! Apparently it's your boyfriend who had that medical emergency!"

It took Pekoe and Assam a moment to register that information, but, when they did, they heard a _Thunk_ come from the commander's seat and saw Darjeeling unconscious.

* * *

A few hours later, Darjeeling was just starting to rouse when she noticed that she was sitting in a hospital room with a sleeping Scott. Seeing him on Oxygen and wired up to a half a dozen machines, it scared her. At that moment, she heard movement from the other side of his bed, "Well, it's good to see you awake dear," the Headmistress said.

"Mum!" she rasped out before coughing violently.

Her mother walked over to her and rubbed her back as soothingly as she could, "It's alright dear, let it out."

At that, the waterworks released a flood as she burrowed into her mother. As she sat there, waiting for the man she loved to wake up, she pondered her future, one that would, by hook or by crook, include Scott, but what could she do? That was the question that would keep her awake for quite some time...

* * *

****Rough Translation of the Welsh Gaelic: Bloody hell, it's like Bloody France again!** **


	16. Chapter 16

It had been three days since Scott had been injured and Darjeeling and her mother hadn't left the hospital. Occasionally they would leave the room to take care of themselves, but that was mostly Lady Gray, whereas Darjeeling would have to be coaxed to so much as eat. Kay had come by the day after the match to give a formal apology and to inform her that Ōarai had, unsurprisingly, beaten Pravda again and would be her next opponent. She stayed for almost an hour before leaving.

Today, as Darjeeling sat with Scott, Lady Gray was standing outside the room with the chief doctor in the hospital, discussing Scott's condition. "What are you saying doctor?" she asked.

The doctor, a balding elderly man, sighed, "I'm saying that with his condition when he arrived here, he's damn lucky to be alive right now," he said before gesturing to his folder and handing her some charts and x-rays, "His ribcage wasn't in the best of shape before taking a 76mm shell to the chest, but now, it's just impossible to tell what would have happened if we hadn't basically replaced his ribs with an artificial ribcage. Add onto that the issue that the shell shattered and the shrapnel shredded his flesh, it's a wonder none of the shards penetrated deep enough to cause serious harm to his internal organs."

Lady Gray paled as she was looking at everything the doctor handed her. As she looked through the door at Darjeeling holding Scott's hand, her mind turned to her late husband, though he had passed on due to age, she vividly remembered the day she had to tell Darjeeling that she no longer had a father. Shaking herself out of her memory, Lady Gray hoped that she wouldn't have to give equally distressing news and so turned back to the doctor, "Would you be able to say, even a guess would do, when Mr Perkins would wake up?"

The doctor removed his glasses and rubbed his brows, "The best I can do is say that I highly doubt Mr Perkins is in a long term coma, he could wake up five minutes from now, or several weeks or even months from now, I couldn't say."

Lady Gray nodded, "Thank you, doctor," she replied.

As she turned to walk into the room, the doctor called out, "Ma'am?" after Lady turned back to him, he continued, "Your daughter, whether or not she realises it, needs to rest. Please, try to persuade her to allow her friends or even yourself to take her home."

Lady Gray sighed, "I'll try,"

Walking into the room, Lady Gray could see the rings around her daughter's eyes. She only hoped she could convince her to take the doctor's advice. Thankfully for her, at that moment, Scott's and Darjeeling's crews came in the room, "Ma'am," Josh said, nodding to her, "How is he?"

Lady Gray sighed and told them what the doctor said, by the time she had finished, Darjeeling was starting to nod off. Assam and Pekoe, seeing the unspoken request in Lady Gray's eyes, turned to Darjeeling, "Darjeeling?" Assam asked, catching her attention, "You should head home, someone is always going to be with Scott and you'll be the first to be notified if he wakes,"

Then a new voice spoke up, "You should listen to Assam dear,"

Everyone turned their heads to the bed, where, sitting wide awake, Scott was looking at Darjeeling. Seeing that everyone's eyes were on him, Scott smirked, "What? Did you expect a shell to keep me out of it for a long time? I've survived a bomb, this is nothing." he remarked before diving into a coughing fit. After finally getting it back under control, Scott muttered, "All right, maybe this is more than nothing, but I'll be fine! Just you wait!"

Just then, the doctor walked in, "Ah, Mr Perkins, glad to see you've decided to rejoin the land of the living," then he turned to everyone, "Right, everyone, out!"

Not wishing to anger the doctor, everyone did vacate the room and, after everyone bringing their concerns to her, Darjeeling finally allowed Josh and Assam to take her home while Pekoe, Rosehip, Stan and Foster stayed with Lady Gray and Scott.

Upon their re-entering the room, Scott immediately noticed Darjeeling's absence, "She actually allowed Josh and Assam to take her home?" he asked.

Lady Gray nodded, "Yes, I thought it would have taken us a while to convince her, but it turns out we just needed your words."

Scott nodded, "Good, I wanted to surprise her anyways and it wouldn't do for her to know the surprise before I was ready."

Foster raised an eyebrow, "Surprise Milord?"

Scott nodded, "Yes, I know I can trust you all to keep a secret, well, at least the girls," he mentioned, "With my injuries both pre and post-match, I am unable to continue my duties as Duke of Norfolk, and, as such, upon my release from the hospital, I will be making a return journey to Britain to speak before Parliament and offer my abdication in favour of another. Upon my return, it is my intention to be on bended knee before Darjeeling."

Lady Gray caught on immediately, "At that point then, you will propose to her?" she asked.

Scott nodded, shocking everyone else in the room, "Yes, I also intend to use my family's rings to do so, hence my immediate return to the British Isles." he then signed, "It is my hope that considering our final year of schooling is not yet complete, the wedding would thus happen this summer, though I do believe that I shall do as any good husband-to-be would do and agree with Darjeeling when she makes a decision," he then turned to look at Lady Gray, "Provided I have your approval, do you have a day that you believe she would say?"

Lady Gray though for a moment, unaware that Scott was asking for her permission and blessing to marry her daughter, finally she spoke, "Probably the eighth of May,"

Foster gave a slow nod, "V-E day," he murmured.

Lady Gray turned to him, "Not for that, but because that was the day that her father proposed to me, and Darjeeling always loved to hear that story."

Scott sighed, "So I have your approval then?" he asked.

Lady Gray smiled, "Of course, you two are made for each other, I only wish her father could give her away." she replied before growing distant.

Josh looked to Scott, "So, when are the Docs allowing you out?" he asked, in the hope that Lady Gray could be distracted.

Scott noticed what he was doing, so played along, "Oh you know how it is, they want me in here about two weeks, I'll probably be up and about in less and they'll send me home on Sunday just to get rid of me."

Everyone had a good chuckle at that. Soon, however, after bringing him up to speed on happenings, Scott started dozing off and they had to leave, Josh though looked back into the room one more time, Assam looked up to him, "What is it Josh?" she asked.

Josh shook his head, "I don't know, just a feeling I have, something major is about to happen and we are on the precipice."

* * *

The next morning, Josh visited the hospital with Assam as they had volunteered to do so since Darjeeling was still fast asleep. As they entered the room, they saw Scott looking at a sheet of paper, "Captain?" Assam asked, "What are you reading?"

Scott looked up, "Josh, Assam, good to see you," he greeted before throwing the paper on the tray he had and removing his glasses, "Just going over my speech to Parliament, I've always written my own speeches and so I'm encountering all the usual issues, how to address people, what to bring up, that sort of thing."

Josh gestured to the paper, "May I?" he asked.

Scott waved his hand, signifying his approval, while Josh read, Scott sighed, "Bloody hand keeps cramping,"

Josh scoffed, "I can tell," he muttered before throwing it back on the tray, "It's practically illegible."

Scott glared at Josh, "Thanks for that," he growled, "Tell me something I don't know."

Assam rolled her eyes, "Boys! Enough!" she snapped. Then she pulled a chair close to his bed and moved the tray before picking up a pencil, "Dictate!" she ordered Scott.

And so he did, Josh would occasionally throw in some advice, but it was mainly Scott's own words. For hours, back and forward they went, writing, editing, erasing, rewriting and so on, until finally, Scott was happy with the speech and had fallen asleep. He knew he would be released soon, he just hoped he could return in time to watch St Gloriana take on Ōarai...


	17. Chapter 17

A few days had passed by, and, just as Scott had predicted, once Sunday came, he wasn't just up and about, but the doctors had sent him home to a joyful Darjeeling. Scott would have to wait for his trip back to Britain though as the doctors didn't want him travelling for a few more days. However, he didn't mind, since that Saturday was the match with Ōarai.

By the time Wednesday rolled around, Scott was considered well enough to be able to attend classes and was greeted with a warm welcome, classes ended up delayed as staff and student alike passed on their well-wishes. In what seemed like no time at all, Scott was sitting in his wheelchair in the garage, waiting for Darjeeling to arrive to begin training. As they were waiting, Josh walked up to him, "Well Captain, since you're out for the season, was there someone who is going to replace you for the Centurion?"

Scott rubbed his chin, "Darjeeling has given me free rein over our composition facing Ōarai, and, looking at it, possibly, provided I get it approved by the boss."

Josh chuckled, "Happy wife, happy life, am I right?" he muttered, drawing a laugh from Scott, then he turned serious, "But really, who's filling the large shoes you've left behind?"

Scott smirked, "Well, Rhys is moving to the Centurion to fill the newly vacant gunner's position considering you'll be filling my big feet."

Josh's eyes widened, "Me! But I'm not nearly…" he spluttered.

Scott raised a hand, cutting him off, "As I recall, you are the ranking Lieutenant amongst the boys and besides, Bert Two hasn't been coping well since arriving and he's been itching to battle. You'll be fine, just listen to Darjeeling and you'll make it out," he remarked.

Just then, Rhys came up, "You wanted to see me sir?" he asked.

Scott looked up, "That I did Rhys, just as I was mentioning to Joshua here, considering that Bert Two hasn't been able to partake in Sensha-dō since arriving here, I am moving you to the gunner's position for the Centurion, and Joshua is being moved to the Commander's position."

Rhys nodded, "I assume I will start today?"

Scott nodded, "Yes, handling a 20 pounder will be different to what you have been using so you better get used to it before the match."

Rhys nodded and, after snapping off a salute, walked over to the Centurion. Josh looked at Scott, "Scott, are you sure I can handle it?" he asked quietly.

Scott looked at Josh, "Josh, if you cannot lead the Centurion, then I cannot, nor would I have been successful in the past. You are my best student, and you have outgrown the master twice-fold," he replied, then he reached up and gripped his shoulder, "Josh, next year, when Darjeeling and I are gone, I know that the team is in good hands. Darjeeling mentioned to me that she had been grooming Pekoe to take her place, and you've taken to all of my tasks like a duck to water. I have faith in you."

Josh sighed, he knew Scott was right, but he still wasn't sure about himself. He didn't have long to dwell on it though as Darjeeling entered and made a beeline for Scott, "Scott, how are you feeling right now?" she asked, allowing Josh to quietly slip away.

Scott smiled, "Bored out of my mind?" he shot back, causing Darjeeling to grin, "But seriously, I feel just fine, maybe a bit antsy, but that's normal."

Darjeeling nodded, "Alright, let me know if you start feeling tired," she mentioned before a thought came to her, "Oh! Have you found your replacement?"

Scott nodded and explained what he had told Josh and Rhys earlier, Darjeeling was thankful, "Good, the Centurion may be our most crucial weapon against Ōarai."

Scott sighed, "I know, there is little we can predict about them other than they will be unpredictable."

Darjeeling rubbed Scott's shoulders, "Don't stress too much about it, we'll find a way."

Scott sighed, he didn't have the heart to tell her that he had been working on it since he had finished writing his speech to Parliament. Grabbing her hand, Scott smirked, "Quite the lineup Miho's obtained, gaining those four American Shermans and the Matilda II."

Darjeeling nodded, "Yes, we'll have to mind that we don't accidentally commit friendly fire."

Scott chuckled, "Could just stick a British flag on the rear of the tank like they did in North Africa."

Darjeeling nodded, then turned to the rest of the team, "I better hop to it, we'll talk more at home," she whispered.

As she left, she pressed a kiss to the top of his head, then walked off. Scott watched her for a few moments before hearing a noise to his left. Turning his head, Scott noticed a blur of brown. He was about to dismiss it entirely, but then he remembered something he had read regarding one of Miho's crew. He remembered that Yukari Akiyama had infiltrated Saunders during the last tournament.

Spinning on the spot, Scott wheeled over to the rough location of the noise, off to the side of the Garage. There, he saw something he could never have predicted, a little girl, no more than five or six, pressing herself against the wall, as if she could merge with it. Shaking himself out of his stupor, Scott rolled closer, "Hello there little one. Who are you?" he asked.

The girl gasped, clearly startled, but Scott raised his hands, "Whoa, easy there, I'm not going to hurt you, I just want to know who you are."

The girl shook her head, "I… I don't know, I just remember waking up here." she cried.

Scott's face creased in concern, it was clear that the girl was suffering from amnesia, but at the same time, she clearly knew how to survive. Turning his attention back to the girl, he softened his face, "Well, why don't you come with me, we can try to find out where you come from and get you back home." he said. Then he extended his hand, inviting the girl to come with him.

Thankfully for Scott, the girl grabbed his hand, allowing him to pull her into his lap. "There, you see, I'm not scary," he said, drawing a smile out of the girl. "Now we go to my girlfriend's mother, the headmistress of the school," he told her while rolling out.

The girl was confused, "This is a school?"

Scott smiled, "One of the best in the world," he replied, before gesturing around them, "This is St Gloriana Secondary Academy, formerly St Gloriana Girls Academy, on board Her Majesty's' School Ship _Ark Royal_."

The girls stared in awe at everything around her until they reached the headmistress' office. Scott had knocked and there were ushered in. The headmistress, to her credit, listened patiently to what Scott had to tell her. It was only after he had finished that she spoke up, "I see," she finally said, before turning to the little girl, "And you don't remember anything?" she asked gently.

She shook her head, "No ma'am,"

Lady Gray nodded, "I see, can you remember how long you've been on the ship?" she asked.

The girl thought hard, "Maybe a week? I can't remember."

Lady Gray nodded, "I see, one of the doctor's will come by and they'll take good care of you." she replied. Then she looked at Scott, "Stay a moment longer Scott."

Scott nodded, "Of course ma'am."

Soon the doctor came and took the girl away to be checked out. Meanwhile, Scott turned back to Lady Gray, "You think she came on during the match with Saunders?" he asked.

Lady Gray sighed, "A week, at least, maybe more. No, I think she came on either during our supply stop in Okinawa or during the Kuromorimine match."

Scott nodded, "With your leave, I'll call Maho, have her run down that avenue."

Lady Gray nodded, "By all means, I'll call the authorities on Okinawa, see if there's a missing person's report."

With that, they parted ways. Scott rolled back to the house where he found that practice had finished as everyone was there, "Captain's back!" Josh called.

Darjeeling looked up from her game of chess with Foster, "There you are. Where'd you go? We didn't see you leave."

Scott sighed, "I thought I was going to catch Yukari Akiyama, instead, I found a little girl, no more than five or six, hiding out behind the garages. Your mother and I are running down some leads as to where she came from, she's looking into Okinawa and I'm going to call Maho to see what she knows."

Darjeeling frowned, "How long has this girl been on the Ark Royal?" she asked.

Scott rubbed his face, "At least a week, maybe longer." he replied before turning on the TV since they connected it to a computer tower, he knew he'd be able to talk with Maho.

Sure enough, less than a minute later, Maho was on the screen and had been listening to Scott explain the situation, "I see. I make no promises, but if she has a relative at Kuromorimine or on the Graf Zeppelin then I let you know." she said.

Scott nodded, "Thanks Maho, once the headmistress and I get her biometrics, I send them to you to better help."

Maho nodded, "Understood Scott," she replied before looking to her side, Scott could hear some muffled sounds, but he couldn't understand a word before Maho shouted, "I'll be there in a moment Erika!" before turning back to her monitor, "Sorry about that, I'll catch you later?"

Scott nodded, "If you're at the Ōarai match, I'll be in the stands."

Maho nodded and powered down her side. Scott smirked, "Took my advice I see," he muttered.

Josh was confused, "What do you mean Milord?" he asked.

Scott chuckled, "I just suggested to Maho that perhaps she should listen to her heart rather than her head in certain situations."

Josh raised an eyebrow but chose to say nothing on the matter. Instead, he looked to where Foster and Darjeeling were continuing their game of chess, "I've never seen anyone hold their own against Foster in chess as long as Darjeeling has." he remarked.

"It's part of being a commander, Josh, we have to strategize at least two or three moves ahead of the enemy," Scott commented as Darjeeling seized Foster's Knight with a Pawn.

Josh sighed, "I better take notes then,"

Scott turned to him, "Josh relax, you'll do fine, besides, there are still two more seasons before we hand the baton off to you."

Josh shook his head, "It's not that Milord," he muttered, then he brought his eyes to Assam, "I need to tell Assam this, but the Royal Navy has been pestering me to accept a lieutenant position aboard HMS Queen Elizabeth II as a weapons officer."

Scott nodded, "Josh, it is ultimately up to you, but I know that you and Assam will endure whatever you choose to do," he reassured before a smile came across his face, "And Darjeeling and I are expecting invitations to the wedding, though that goes for everyone."

Josh sighed, Scott made it sound so easy. All of a sudden, Darjeeling proclaimed "Checkmate!"

This brought their attention to the board where Foster was looking for something to break it, but to no avail, "Damn, the first game I lose since taking up chess." he muttered.

Scott smirked as he kissed Darjeeling's cheek, "Well that's because we've never battled it out, Foster."

Foster looked up, "Tomorrow then Milord." he challenged.

Scott smirked, "What, don't think you could take me now?" he replied.

Foster raised an eyebrow, "Right then, let's do this."

Perhaps to no one's real surprise, Scott beat Foster in less than ten moves. This left Foster dumbfounded, "How do you do it?" he asked.

Scott smirked as Darjeeling sat on his lap, "The same way I handle a battle," he said, then looked at Darjeeling, "Probe, Analyze, Exploit."

Josh smirked, "I never thought I'd see the day where not one, but two people beat Foster in chess."

Foster spluttered, but Rosehip rested her head on his shoulder, calming him quickly. As Scott held Darjeeling and looked on at everyone having a good time, in the back of his mind, he thought about what he was going to do after the Ōarai match and his speech to Parliament. But that paled when compared to going to his ancestral home for the first time since he was five years old...


	18. Tanks: St Gloriana and Ōarai

****St Gloriana** **

****Churchill VII-Flag Tank: Commander Darjeeling** **

****Centurion III-Forward Command Tank: Temporarily commanded by Joshua Hall** **

****Crusader IIIx2-Forward Scouts** **

****Cometx3-Attack Squad A: Commanded by Rosehip** **

****Matilda IIx4-Attack Squad B: Commanded by Rukuriri** **

****AT2x2-Heavy Guns** **

****FV304x2-Light Guns: Commanded by Terre Robbins** **

* * *

****Ooarai** **

****Panzer IV H-Flag Tank: Commander Miho Nishizumi** **

****Panther-Forward Command Tank: Commanded by Günther Rommel** **

****Jagdpanzer 38(t)** **

****Stug III** **

****Type-89B** **

****M3 Lee** **

****Char B1** **

****Tiger(P)** **

****Type 3** **

****M4 Sherman x4** **

****Matilda II** **

****T30** **


	19. Chapter 19

By the time the day of the match came, Scott was finally able to ditch the wheelchair and instead used a cane to walk about. As such, he was standing near the stands when he heard a familiar voice, "Mr Perkins?"

As Scott turned, he smiled, the little girl he had discovered on Wednesday had come up to him. Bending down to her level, Scott greeted her, "Hello my young friend, come here to watch?"

The girl nodded, it was then that the screen showed the tanks of Ōarai. At first, Scott wasn't surprised, he knew about the Matilda Mark II since St Gloriana had donated it during the summer months in recognition of their growth from their first battle. As for the T30and the M4 Shermans, well, he had heard that an American Tank museum had loaned them to Ōarai for the season, to work out the kinks with them after a complete overhaul, and some free advertisement. But then the camera panned over something that he definitely wasn't expecting, "When did Miho get a Panzerkampfwagen V Ausf F?" he wondered aloud.

"We sold it to her obviously," came from behind him.

Turning to face the new voice, a large smile broke out on Scott's face, "Maho! Ms Itsumi! Good to see you both again."

Maho and Erika were, surprisingly to Scott, in summer dresses. Considering that the wind was gusting hard, he had gone for his normal uniform drawn from the Duke of Wellington but had opted to throw on a large overcoat. "Summer Dresses?" he asked.

Maho shrugged, "It's not that bad. I'm surprised you bowed to the wind." she remarked.

Scott shook his head, "I didn't bow to the wind, I bowed to the wishes of Darjeeling." he replied, then turned his attention back to the screen, "You sold a Panther F to Ōarai after they beat you?"

Maho shrugged, "Mother doesn't know exactly," she said, "It had been troublesome, so as far as she knows, we sent it back to the manufacturer and they fixed it, when, in truth, we sold it to Miho and bought a new one with the money. I look forward to seeing how her mechanical crew tinkered with it."

Scott huffed, "We'll have to see how they handle it. I recall that their tanks were undermanned last year, I hope they've fixed that."

As they were talking, the announcer was going over the captains and commanders for each of the teams. Once she got to Miho's second in command, Scott looked up, quite confused, "Günther Rommel? Who the blazes is he?"

Maho frowned, much to Scott's amusement, "Günther Rommel, a transfer student from Germany, he is actually a descendant of the real Erwin Rommel, a fact that, from what Miho has told me, has caused him to butt heads with the girl from their history club who calls herself Erwin."

Scott raised an eyebrow, "Is that so? My Great-Grandfather fought against Rommel in Africa," he remarked before turning back to her, "So what's got you frowning?"

Erika laughed, "She's just dealing with the usual older sibling overprotectiveness."

Scott raised an eyebrow, "They're dating?" he asked.

Maho's lips thinned even more, clearly trying to avoid causing a scene when Erika rubbed her back, "They are, and we've been keeping a close eye on their relationship."

Scott nodded, "Regardless, I will speak with him after the battle," he said, then he smirked, "Don't worry, I'm sure Darjeeling and I will make it quite clear what will happen to him if he should hurt her."

Maho nodded, then looked to his side, "Are you the girl Scott told me about?" she asked as she knelt down to her level.

Scott smiled as the girl ducked behind his legs, turning, Scott stooped down to her level and said, "It's alright, Maho is one of the people looking to find out who you are and where your family is."

The girl seemed to wince at that, but only for a moment before smiling at them and running to where the headmistress was. Scott turned to the girls, "You saw that, right?"

Maho frowned, she had seen it and was concerned, "Did the doctors say anything about abuse?"

Scott shook his head, "They haven't told me a thing and that concerns me." then he sighed, "I just hope they're going to let me fly tomorrow or I'm going to have to reschedule again."

Maho arched an eyebrow, "Fly where?" she asked.

Scott sighed and gestured for them to join him at his seat, which they did. "My hope is that the day after tomorrow I'll be speaking to a combined session of the British Parliament with the Queen in attendance to hand in my abdication from the Dukedom of Norfolk where after, I will head to Arundel Castle to find my parent's wedding rings to propose to Darjeeling with."

Maho and Erika looked at each other. "What's got you concerned?" Maho asked.

Scott sighed, "Well, I suspect the normal jitters that one would have when they are about to propose to the love of their life. But mainly it's the fact that I will be speaking in front of several hundred people and it's going to being all over media for a while."

Maho rolled her eyes, "Scott, you're a born speaker, I wouldn't worry about that. As for the other thing," she paused to look him in the eyes, "I could see that you two were deeply in love from the first moment I saw you two together, I even think there's a pool on when you two would become engaged between the commanders," she remarked.

Erika nodded, she had been designated as a fair bookie and had the notebook on her, "If you were to propose on Wednesday, Nonna would win the pot, whereas if you were to wait until the final match, Kay would win."

Scott was shocked that so many were betting on his love life, but before he could say anything, a flare went up, "Match Start!" was also announced.

* * *

Before the command had been given, Darjeeling and Joshua walked to the Greeting Area. they weren't waiting for long before Miho and Günther appeared, "Miho! It's good to finally have this opportunity for a rematch." Darjeeling remarked.

Miho smiled, "Indeed, now that we've improved ourselves, I think we might finally stand a chance this time," she replied before turning to Günther, "Oh, this is Günther Rommel, my Vice Commander."

Günther smiled, "Hello Commander, I've heard many things about St Gloriana over the years."

Darjeeling smirked, "All good things I hope," then she noticed how close they were, "I think it's only fair that I should warn you that my boyfriend see Miho as a little sister,"

Günther grimaced, "I've heard, but I think that after what Maho put me through, I will be alright."

Just then, the judge approached, they enjoyed the banter between the teams but it was time to start things. After being dismissed to their tanks, Darjeeling turned to Josh, "Well, this should be interesting at the very least."

Josh nodded as they mounted their tanks. The battlefield was a lot of rolling hills with a few streams running through it, perfect for fast nippy tanks, something that Ōarai had in abundance. But Josh rubbed his chin, with the flag being on the T30 Heavy Tank, it was going to be quite difficult to knock it out, "I recommend that we take out the support vehicles first then focus on the flag tank." he remarked.

Darjeeling nodded, "I was thinking along those lines myself," she mused before turning on her radio, "Rosehip, Robbins, detach to Centurion and head NorthWest. Rukuriri, Mr Dunbar, detach to Churchill and proceed NorthEast. Cranberry, Vanilla, do as you please, keep your eyes out for that T30 but don't focus on it."

It was then that the Match Start command came, "Roll out!" Darjeeling ordered, and so they did.

* * *

Returning to the Ōarai starting zone, Günther and Miho mounted their tanks, the Panzer IV H never looked better in Günther's eyes then when Miho was standing out of the Commander's hatch, though Miho would say the say for when Günther stood out of the Panther's Commander's hatch. Turning to Miho, Günther smiled, "Well, how are we going to pull this one out?" he asked.

Miho thought for a moment, "I'll take the Stug, Type 3, the B1 and the Matilda II and head towards the Western stream, I want you to take the Jagdpanzer 38(t), the M3, the Type-89B and the Tiger and head to the Eastern stream, the Shermans will remain with the T30 and set up further back behind the lines."

Günther nodded, knowing full well that Darjeeling had been getting more unpredictable ever since the boys of Yorkshire had joined them and knew that ending the battle quickly would do them wonders. This also meant that he wouldn't have to deal with Hippo team and Matsumoto in particular. With that, Miho picked up her radio, "Turtle, Duck, Rabbit, and Leopon teams, I want you with Günther, you'll be heading to the east. Hippo, Mallard, Anteater, and Desert, you're with me, we'll head west. Sherman corps, stick with the T30 and find a defensible position to stay in." just then, the match start flare fired, "Panzer Vor!" she concluded.

* * *

Watching the two teams disperse from the stands, Scott rubbed his chin. Each of Ōarai’s battle detachments had deployed one tank that was completely new for them. Though he didn't know how good Günther was, he knew that Josh, no matter how fast he was becoming a good commander, was no match for Miho. He doubted that he would do any better though and knew that the battle would come down to Darjeeling being able to survive long enough to find and eliminate the T30. After he said as much, Maho asked why he had come to that conclusion, "It's simple I'm afraid, Josh has had three days to get used to being the second-in-command and that's a daunting task by itself, add into the equation that they are going against the reigning champions and the scale tips in the favour of Ōarai."

Erika grew pensive, "I thought he had been your SiC before you came to St Gloriana?"

Scott sighed, "Technically, you are right, but you must think of the times. Just a few years ago, six to be precise, the European version of Sensha-dō was banned due to a particularly bad year that had been capped off with Cottbus, Germany losing five students due to a poorly maintained Panzer III and a spot of poor luck when a shot impacted a weak panel near the Ammunition Rack," Scott then grew introspective, "We were lucky that day, they had been heading towards a spot that had been designated as a place for observers from the public to watch."

Both Erika and Maho were stunned, they had never had a reason to pay any attention to what happened outside of Japan yet they both thought that they had heard something vaguely about it. Scott though, just continued, "I remember that the officials had told us just to go home, to just forget about what we had seen. But I don't think I'll ever forget the screams."

Scott grew distant for a moment, getting lost in old memories before looking up at the screen, "Oh bloody hell Josh…" he sighed.

* * *

Josh was in quite the pickle, he had found Miho's force when he had been in the open and disorganised and had to quickly issue orders. "Rosehip, break across the river, try and come up the back of them. Terre?"

Two cracks were heard and the popping of flags could be heard, "Sorry! We're out!" Terre replied.

Josh frowned, "Alright, anyone hurt?" he asked and he was given a negative response. At this point, he rubbed his face, "Blast it, find a hull down position to get into and return fire." he ordered.

As the Centurion tried to get to a position to return fire effectively, Miho popped her head out of her hatch, she had seen the Comets split off from the main force, "Hippo! You have three Comets coming your way," she radioed.

"Copy that," Erwin replied.

Hana and Yukari looked up to Miho, waiting to see what she was planning, "Hana, do you have a shot?"

Hana looked through her sights, "It's not the greatest, but I can probably make it."

Miho nodded, "Take it when you feel sure about it."

Hana nodded, before looking down her sights and pulled the trigger and the Centurion popped its flag.

When the shot connected with the Centurion, Josh hit his head against the Centurion's hull and a loud ringing accosted their ears. Eventually, Josh recovered enough to take stock of the situation. They had been eliminated, obviously, everyone in the tank was groaning due to the ringing in their ears, again, obvious. "Stan, how you feeling?" he asked.

Stan groaned, "Like Hagrid used my head like a drum, what happened?"

Josh sighed, "We were taken out, did we land a hit?" he asked Rhys

Rhys shook his head, "We couldn't even see enough of their tank to take a shot at, much less hit," he replied.

Josh sighed, "Alright, might as well rest before the recovery vehicles arrive," he muttered before popping his hatch to let the breeze in. all the while, he wondered just what he had faced.

* * *

Rosehip found out quite quickly what had and hadn't faced Josh. she saw the Stug III, the B1, the Matilda II and the Type 3 laying in a poorly constructed ambush across the river. Though she had three Comets and they were technically superior she was still outnumbered, plus, it was Ōarai, you always err on the side of caution. She quickly deployed her forces in a cone facing the Ōarai tanks with many bushes between them, then she had each Comet targeting a different tank, the one to her left targeted the Type 3, the one to her right targeted the B1 while her's targeted the Stug. As soon as each crew verified that they were aimed and ready, she gave the order to fire and they all fired as one. At once, the Stug, B1 and the Type 3 were eliminated, leaving the Matilda, seeing this, Rosehip ordered a charge on its position, careful to remain spread out and gave the clearance to fire at will. This led the Matilda crew to become overwhelmed and they quickly joined their teammates. Knowing that Darjeeling was under Radio Silence protocols, she organised her Comets and went flag tank hunting.

* * *

Whilst this was all going on, Darjeeling found Günther's force and both sides were using the terrain to their advantage, they had managed to take out the Tiger, the M3 Lee and the Type-89B, but they had also lost three of their Matilda IIs and an AT2. They were forcing Günther to retreat though, so Darjeeling thought that things were looking up for them, when all of a sudden, the remaining Matilda II that was behind her was knocked out. Darjeeling spun on the spot and saw Miho's Panzer IV bearing down on her. Quickly ordering her turret to spin and face Miho, sadly, it was not to be as Hana made up for the final shot of the first match between St Gloriana and Ooarai and popped the flag of the Churchill VII.

"St Gloriana Flag Tank disabled, Ooarai Wins!" came across the radio. Instead of being shocked at her defeat, Darjeeling smiled and waved to Miho before dismounting and walking over to her, "Well played Miho, I suppose we're even now," she said, smirking.

Miho smiled, "I'd say so, I'll be honest, when I heard that my rear guard was eliminated, I worried that maybe you might find our T30," she remarked as they were joined by Günther. As Günther wrapped his arms around Miho, he turned to Darjeeling, "It was an honour to battle against you Commander, I look forward to next season."

Darjeeling nodded, "As do I, until next time then, I'll let you both… celebrate." she replied, giving an all-knowing smile to them before turning and remounting the Churchill as it was loaded onto the recovery vehicle.

Upon their return to the Ark Royal, Scott walked over to Darjeeling, "I saw you talk to Miho and Günther after the battle, might I ask what you said?" he asked.

Darjeeling smiled, "Just that we were now even and that I'd leave them to their… celebration."

Scott rolled his eyes, knowing full well what she was implying, but also knowing just what she was thinking. It was, therefore, little surprise when an hour after returning, Josh looked around, and couldn't find either Scott or Darjeeling. Turning to Assam, Josh smirked, "Five quid says they're in a compromising position right now."

Assam rolled her eyes, she wouldn't take that bet as she was fairly sure as to what they were getting up to, "Remember, you and I should turn in early considering we're going with him tomorrow."

Josh sighed, she was right of course, he just wasn't looking forward to their return and they would soon see why...


	20. Chapter 20

The next morning came with little fanfare, Scott had woken up early, 0530 to be precise, and, eventually, extracted himself from Darjeeling's embrace to prepare for his flight back to Britain. After showering, grabbing the paper and preparing himself, Josh, and Assam a light breakfast, Scott sat at the table and read the paper. Scott was just starting to read the sports page when Josh and Assam walked in, "Morning you two, flight leaves at noon, we'll leave here for the airport at 0900 to give ourselves plenty of time, in the meantime, grab a bite to eat, aeroplane food tastes terrible in my opinion."

Josh looked at Scott, then at the clock which read 0600, "How the hell are you chipper and alert at this hour?" he asked.

Scott raised an eyebrow, "Darjeeling and I turned in at 2000 last night and we went straight to sleep, what are you talking about?"

Josh turned bright red, "Well, er," he stumbled.

Scott peered over the paper adopting a face of disappointment, "No Josh, Darjeeling and I did not spend last night shagging and even if we did, we're reasonable enough that we would have come back much earlier, garnering much the same result, I would be awake at a similar time."

Josh grew quiet. Scott, noticing this, diverted his attention, "Our itinerary has changed slightly," he began, drawing their attention, "My presence was requested at Buckingham, I haven't a clue as to why, but considering where this summons originates, it would not be wise to ignore them."

Assam was confused, "What do you mean?" she asked.

Scott set down the paper and reached into his jacket and pulled out a letter, " _My dear Duke of Norfolk, I require your presence at your earliest convenience. There is a matter that I wish to discuss with you._ Signed from the desk of Her Royal Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II Windsor, Queen of the United Kingdoms of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, etc." he read before setting it back in his pocket, "Very kind of Her Majesty to shorten her titles as she had, else her titles would have been longer than her summons."

Assam was shocked, "Why would the Queen be interested in what you're going to do? I thought this would be a matter of little importance for her," she said.

Scott sighed, "Normally your assessment would be correct Assam, however, I'm sure you remember the paper the day after the Ball at the start of term, my Dukedom is that of Norfolk, Britain's Premier Duke, in terms of the High Society of Britain, I would be second only to Her Majesty. I mean, if the Queen was to die tomorrow, I would have to plan the ascension of the current Prince of Wales to the throne and his Coronation." Scott looked distant, remembering his duties that he would be giving up before turning back to them, "Regardless it's a meeting that would have needed to happen anyway as she needs to approve the successor to the House of Lords, I just didn't expect to be summoned."

* * *

Soon, they were in the air and before they knew it, after napping most of the way, they were touching down at Heathrow late in the evening. After checking in at a hotel and sleeping through the night, they awoke at 0700 and went about their morning routines, meeting in the lobby to head out for breakfast. Before long, after a filling English breakfast, a car pulled up to the restaurant bearing the Royal Coat of Arms and adorned with Union Jacks flying on the front. Knowing it was meant for them, Scott led Josh and Assam to the car before getting in. Once they were in and the driver confirmed they were his party, they drove off. Assam though had observed something, "You seem to draw quite the crowd, Scott," she remarked.

Scott sighed, "Unfortunately yes, hence why I generally don't go out in public often when in Britain, it's incredibly rare to see a member of the Nobility, much less one of such high standing."

This effectively killed conversation as both Josh and Assam could tell Scott wasn't looking forward to the meeting. Upon their arrival at Buckingham Palace, they were escorted to the White Drawing Room where they waited for the Queen. As it was, they didn't wait long as she joined them a few minutes later, "My Lord Norfolk, thank you for your promptness," She began, then looked between Josh and Assam, "I take it you trust this two?" she asked.

Scott nodded, "I'd trust them with my child when it comes time for it, Your Majesty," he replied.

Josh and Assam were shocked but filed that away for later. The Queen, on the other hand, smiled, "Perfect," she said before gesturing to the seats. Taking that as their cue, everyone sat to face the Queen. Needless to say, she did not disappoint, "I understand you wish to abdicate the Dukedom," she began, "I have no qualms perse regarding the abdication, nor for your reasons, as you mentioned in your last letter regarding the situation. Rather the issue stems from those who will replace you," she continued before looking him dead in the eyes, "I trust you've heard the news?"

Scott sighed, "There are elements still loyal to me here in Britain and they have been keeping me abreast of the situation regarding cousin Daniel," then he pulled out a sheet of paper, "But even he cannot dispute my late father's wishes, nor can he argue with genetics," he remarked whilst handing the paper to the Queen who glanced at it and smirked, but Scott continued, "Considering it would take a Royal Decree to invalidate these orders, I wish to understand what the position of the Royal House is on the matter before I bring it up to the House of Lords."

At this the Queen grew a predatory grin, causing Josh and Assam to be taken aback at the side of the Queen they had never seen, "Take them for all their worth, My Lord Norfolk, I look forward to your speech this evening."

Scott smirked, "As am I Your Majesty, as am I."

At that, the Queen parted from their group and they were escorted back to the car as it would take them to Westminster so they could begin preparations. As they were driving over, Assam turned to Scott, "Terre's becoming your successor? You didn't mention that while I was writing your speech."

Scott shrugged, "That's because I needed to confirm with her that she would be willing which she was, surprisingly enough,"

Josh frowned, "I thought she hated politics with a burning passion," he mused.

Scott again shrugged, "Perhaps, but she confided that she was willing to keep mum on the matter to relieve me of transferring the Dukedom to Daniel, she never liked him."

Once they arrived at Westminster, they walked over to the offices assigned to the Duke of Norfolk. Each of the members of Parliament, be they a member of the House of Commons or the House of Lords were allotted an office space to use and the Duke of Norfolk's just happened to be one on the ground floor. Though Scott hadn't used his office yet, it was well guarded and very private, perfect to kill time.

If Scott thought he would get a moment to relax, Assam had other ideas, "Scott, what is the issue with your cousin that got Terre to agree to this?" she asked.

Scott sighed, he knew he wouldn't get out of it so sat behind the desk. "You remember that my father had an affair, well the rest of the family found out and ostracised him whilst he was living and it never got any better after he died," Scott paused for a second, gathering his thoughts, "It was one reason I accepted being cared for by the Dawsons, if one thought my family was harsh with my father, they would think that they were barbaric in regards to me."

Josh paled, "Have you mentioned this to Darjeeling?" he asked.

Scott snorted, "Are you kidding, considering her reaction to Archibald I'd rather not have to bail her out of prison."

Assam grimaced, she was well aware Darjeeling would cause harm to anyone who so much as threatened Scott. Scott turned and looked at Assam, having a pretty good idea what she was thinking, "When I make the announcement, I suspect that my family will protest, should something incapacitate me, I need you both to go to Arundel and find the rings," Scott held up a hand to hold her protest, "It's better to plan and not need it rather than need it and not plan for it," he remarked before fixing them with a hard stare, "There's a series of passphrases the maids and caretakers will ask you, if they say 'Red and Brown above' reply 'Harmony true' this will let them know that you are with me. Should they ask your purpose, tell them 'It's time to fulfil the promise' they'll know what you're looking for and will hopefully be of help to you. Please for my sake remember these, I don't trust my family to remain civil."

Assam and Josh nodded sadly, and soon it was time. After Scott was dressed in his vestments as granted by virtue of being the Duke of Norfolk, he walked to the Lords Chamber. As they did, murmuring could be heard, it had been years since the Duke of Norfolk had graced the halls of Westminster, and for him to do so on the same day that the Queen was set to attend the House of Lords was certain to set tongues wagging. Some more observant members of the Chamber were theorising if it was coincidence or not. But all were silent when the doors to the Chamber were opened to admit Scott. As he took his seat, Josh leaned to his ear and whispered, "She's arrived," Scott nodded and stood back up and walked to the door from which the Queen would arrive.

The room was standing silent as Scott threw open the door and reversed with head bowed towards the Queen before standing before his seat. Upon a glance over the chamber and the viewing gallery, it took all her years of political training to keep her disdain off of her face when she cast a glance over the remains of the Perkins family standing in the viewing gallery. But she soon tore her gaze from them and looked to the rest of the Chamber before giving the command to take their seats. It was at that point that the House of Commons entered the Chamber and, after being acknowledged by Her Majesty, remained standing in the back of the room. Then, to the surprise of the Commons, the Queen spoke, "My Honoured Lords and Ladies, the Duke of Norfolk wishes for us to listen to his words, let us give him the courtesy that he has given us."

Standing and bowing to the Queen, Scott began his speech, "Your Majesty, My Honoured Friends of the Lords and Commons, it is with a heavy heart that I must come before you to present my abdication from the position as Duke of Norfolk as well as to announce my successor.

This decision did not come lightly, nor was it made in accordance for the short-term. I have been advised by numerous medical officials to consider this path immediately following the Bombing of Remembrance Sunday in the year of 2010, but, much like others who have the Perkins Blood flowing through their veins, I was a stubborn man, and thus discarded their advice. These issues were therefore compounded by the late Viscount of Chelmsford whose actions led me to introduce the bill in March of 2012 to assist our schools in combating schoolyard bullying and harassment. Again, after a visit to the Infirmary, I was advised to abdicate, and again, I chose to ignore the advice, much to my own pain and suffering in later years. These issues were brought to their conclusion during the last match of Tankery I partook in over in Japan, wherein I received, through no fault of anyone but myself, a 76 millimetre shell to my chest, necessitating a handful of medical operations to allow me to so much as breathe, much less stand and walk, whilst not in pain.

It is, therefore, my intention to live the quiet life after this assembly, specifically aboard Her Majesty's School Ship _Ark Royal_ , wherein I hope to, one day, be a good teacher to my students, a good husband to my wife, and, the misses permitting, of course, a good father to my children. To this end, I, therefore, name my successor in accordance with the Final Wills and Testaments of my late father, to be my half-sister, Terre Robbins."

At this, just as he and the Queen had predicted, the rest of the Perkins family cried out in outrage, but the rest of the Chamber merely glared them into silence, much to Scott's chagrin and shock, "I thank this House of Noble Lords and Ladies, as well as the House of Commons for their support throughout the years and so I wish you all the best in the future endeavours of this glorious Kingdom. Rule Britannia, God save the Queen!"

The majority of the Chamber, excluding his own family, cheered for Scott, those near him expressed regret for his departure but gave him their best wishes in future endeavours where, as one Lord put it, "It is doubtful you will need any luck to propose to your sweetheart, but I shall wish it to you all the same."

By the time Scott finally made it out of the Chamber proper, he was exhausted and in no shape to do anything other than flop down on the hotel bed and sleep until the next morning. However, his family had other plans for him.

Upon reaching the Central Hall, Scott heard a familiar voice call for him and sighed, he had suspected this would happen, "Hello Uncle William, as much as I would like to continue this, I'm knackered…"

Uncle William was having none of it though, "You listen here, boy! You're going to hand my son his rightful inheritance right now!"

Scott rolled his eyes mentally, "Uncle, it would make little difference as I haven't been the Duke since I sat back down after speaking. And before you say anything," he said, cutting off the remark, "I've already spoken with Her Majesty and she has already approved my successor, only needing the official approval of the Prime Minister of which she has already informed me as to her approval meaning the paperwork is already in motion."

William and the rest of the family were outraged and they were drawing a crowd. Scott then hammered the final nail into the coffin, "Everything I said in my speech was true, this is the third time I've been advised to abdicate, but the first I've listened to that advice as this is the first time I've had a viable alternative to a person who spits my name in place of profanity."

This proved too much for William and indeed Daniel to handle. Josh would later say when asked, that he tried to prevent the fight from happening, but the crowd had separated him from Scott and had made it quite difficult to get back to him. As it was, William and Daniel threw two punches each and a few members of the family joined in.

Seeing his commander under attack, Josh pushed his way through the panicking crowd and placed a few good punches to incapacitate a couple of members of Scott's family before being grabbed and thrown to the ground, blood rushing from his head, effectively taking him out of the fight.

Assam meanwhile, hadn't been idle as she rushed and found a member of security who called for reinforcements before she rushed to Josh after he hit the ground. One particularly idiotic member of the family though, threw a right hook that connected with her face, giving her a bloody nose and caused her to stumble back.

Just then, security forces poured in and began breaking up the "battle". It took a few minutes as it was soon apparent that they didn't really care about anything other than the supposed wrong Scott had committed against the family. After each member of Scott's family had been forced to the ground and cuffed, Assam got her first look at Josh and Scott from behind several medical personnel's backs. Josh had a bloody nose, the beginnings of a black eye and the back of his head was laying in a pool of blood. Scott though, his eyes were closed and it was impossible to tell where he was bleeding from as his entire face was covered in blood, his arm was bent in such a way that Assam knew it had to be broken.

All of this proved to be too much for her as she rushed over to a rubbish bin and vomited breakfast up, it probably wasn't the greatest idea to have scrambled eggs that morning and she doubted she would have them for a long while after today. Much to her surprise, one of the female medics came over to her and held her hair out of her face while she threw up. After she finished, she was guided slowly to the floor, where the nurse took pity on her, "Which is yours?" she asked.

Assam teared up, "The other one, not the former Duke." she shakily replied.

The medic smiled at her, "He'll be fine, he just needs to rest for a few days and he'll be back to normal," then she grimaced, "The former Duke, on the other hand, is in a very bad way, it may take weeks, maybe even months for him to fully recover, and that's _if_ he recovers fully in the first place."

Assam sighed, "I'm not looking forward to telling Darjeeling," she muttered.

The nurse grew confused, "Darjeeling?" she asked.

Assam looked up, "St Gloriana students occasionally take up a 'Soul Name' associated with a tea, it becomes so commonplace to refer to us by our Soul Names that we forget what our birth names were and when we're reminded, it's uncomfortable, so we usually continue using it, Darjeeling would be the future Mrs Perkins once Scott proposes," she then smiled, "When Josh decides to propose to me, I'll take up his name and become Assam Hall."

The nurse nodded, "I see," then she noticed the other medics helping Joshua to his feet, "We better get you to your sweetheart," she said, helping her up and over to Josh who took her into his arms.

Josh held Assam close to him, just as much for himself as for her. "We need to call Darjeeling and Lady Gray as soon as we find out where they're taking him," he whispered, he didn't trust his voice to carry at a normal level. Nor did he fancy tell Darjeeling what had happened.

One of the medics overheard what Josh had said and slowly walked over to the couple and introduced himself as a Doctor Herring, "I normally shouldn't tell anyone but family where a patient is going, but, well," he said, flushing red in embarrassment considering the circumstances, "I will be taking over the former Duke of Norfolk's care whilst he remains in the Isles and I would prefer if he remains in the Isles until he has healed in full, and we'll be heading to the King Edward VII's Hospital, he deserves the best care after all."

Josh nodded, and thankfully the Doctor recognised that they needed a moment, he just hoped they would be able to find their way, London traffic was torture to navigate. Josh then held Assam tightly. Assam, recognising that something was wrong, just waited, knowing that he would talk when he felt ready, then she whispered, "I'll call Lady Gray and ask her to tell Darjeeling for us. Maybe we'll get lucky and she'll reroute the ship to a British port."

Josh nodded and after they were guided to the same car they had taken earlier that day and were told that they would be taken to the King Edward VII's Hospital, Assam made the phone call, knowing that it was early afternoon for them.

* * *

Lady Gray was sitting in her office, sipping on her tea. The other day, Scott had told her about the Parliament's streaming service that would let her watch the speech live and she was proud of the boy she had already considered her son before he had asked for her permission to marry Darjeeling. She was musing on what he had said about his hopes when she heard her phone ring. Picking it up, she answered, "Headmistress Lady Gray…"

A quarter of an hour later, the staff were greeted by the door of the Headmistress' office slamming open and the frantic shout of the Headmistress, "Get Darjeeling up here now!" not one to question things when the Headmistress sounded distressed, the staff quickly located and called up Darjeeling, who, thankfully for them, came promptly and shut the door.

Darjeeling, confused by the sudden summons, sat in front of her mother's desk and asked what had happened. Needless to say, she wasn't expecting what came out of her mother's mouth, "Scott been badly hurt by members of his own family and Josh and Assam are currently on their way to the hospital he's been taken to."


	21. Chapter 21

Darjeeling blinked twice before speaking, "What happened?"

Lady Gray sighed, "Scott had given a wonderful speech in the British Parliament's House of Lords with the House of Commons and Her Majesty in attendance, when, according to Assam, he crossed paths with his blood family. Just what was said, no one is quite sure, his family is not talking and Josh didn't see much, so the police are waiting for Scott to wake up to see what was said. As to what was done, well, a camera crew had been following at a distance and caught it all for the BBC News," she said before turning her monitor around and playing the video of the fight.

By the end of it, Darjeeling didn't know whether to cry or spit curses. Considering her mother was in front of her, she eventually chose the former. Her mother walked around her desk and held her daughter close, eventually, Darjeeling asked, "Where is Scott now?"

Lady Gray sighed, "He's been taken to King Edward VII's hospital in London, considering their list of notable patients over the years, he's in good hands, the best in Britain." she then looked at Darjeeling, "I've already rerouted _Ark Royal_ to head to British waters, but it will take a few days and, as much as I want to send you to Scott's side, you've already missed several days of school last time this happened, you need to stay on top of things here," then she fixed Darjeeling with her hardest stare, "Assam and Josh will keep a close eye on him until we arrive and you will come with me on the weekends to visit him."

Darjeeling looked down, then nodded, not trusting her voice to agree with her mother, she desperately wanted to be with Scott, but she understood her mother's point of view.

* * *

Lady Gray turned out to only be half right at that moment. Josh was sitting waiting for Scott to get out of surgery, but Assam wasn't, she was walking up a long drive. Looking up, she saw her destination, Arundel Castle, it's towers and walls imposing as she walked up. When Scott had mentioned what they should remember if he had been incapacitated, she never wished she would be arriving at Arundel without him. Just then, she found herself facing the gate, where a caretaker was standing, he was balding and an averagely built man, but his eyes shone as if he never felt sadness in his life, "Good evening ma'am," he remarked before looking up, "There's _red and brown above_ you, it's going to be a glorious day tomorrow."

Assam nodded, "There is a certain _harmony, true_ when you see these colours."

The caretaker nodded, half to himself and half to her, before motioning her through the gate. As soon as she entered, he gestured to the castle, "As you are with our former Lord, and he is not here himself, I can almost guess as to why you are here. Is he alright?"

Assam sighed, "Unfortunately the medical personnel around him are keeping tight-lipped on the matter, so, since I was tired of waiting, I came here. After all, he said 'It's time to fulfil a promise' so here I am."

The caretaker grew pensive for a second, before looking at Assam with what she believed was fear in his eyes for some reason, "Lady Assam, I have seen many Dukes and Duchesses come through these halls, please tell me, is the former Duke and his beloved truly in love?"

Assam raised an eyebrow, confused as to where this was going, so answered truthfully, "They are, and have been since they first laid eyes upon each other at the beginning of the term. Why do you ask?"

The caretaker let out a great sigh of relief, "In the many years since I started here, with the last of the Howards you see, I have never since the Ducal couple treat each other with anything more than a passing glance. When the first Duke Perkins came to be some thirty years ago, I had hoped that I would never see it again. Unfortunately, he lasted all of four years before his son, Duke Duncan Perkins took the title. And years later, he too was dead after an affair. I was worried that Duke Scott would suffer the same fate."

At this, Assam smiled, "I wouldn't worry too much, Darjeeling is fiercely protective of Scott, he 'joked', if you could believe it, that he didn't mention anything about his birth family to Darjeeling because he didn't want to post bail."

Again, the caretaker sighed in relief, "In that case, I might as well save you a trip on your feet and give you these," he remarked before digging a small box out of his pocket, "Be sure to give that to Lord Perkins as soon as you are able to," he said before looking her in the eyes, "And when you find your love, never let go, a lesson I learned twenty years too late." he sadly remarked before spinning on his heel and disappeared into the distance.

* * *

It was only when Assam was back at King Edward VII's hospital that she realised that she didn't even know the caretaker's name. However, she figured that when Scott woke up he would be able to tell her. By the time she got to the room the receptionist had told her to go, she couldn't believe her eyes, there was Scott, sitting up and laughing with Josh at something. Just then, Scott noticed Assam in the doorway, "Assam, watch out, you're catching flies in your mouth!" he joked.

This brought Assam out of her stupor, "Scott! You better not say it!" she exclaimed.

Scott smiled, "Of course not Assam. But I must ask since only Josh was here when I woke up some thirty minutes ago, did you do as I asked?"

Assam nodded, "Yes, the caretaker that greeted me actually had them on his person when he met me and saved me a trip, though he didn't tell me his name."

Scott thought a moment, "Relatively tall, balding white hair, clean-shaven?" he asked and Assam nodded, causing him to smile, "Ah, that was Reginald Crouch, the head caretaker of the castle. He's in charge of everyone who takes care of the castle, from the gardeners to the nannies, one of my favourite people at the castle too." he mused.

Assam nodded, suddenly his comments and questions made a lot of sense. But before she could say anything, Scott stifled a yawn, "Goodness, blasted drugs, I apologize, but sleep beckons, and I'd rather not have Darjeeling hound me about not being rested enough." and at that, Scott slipped into a deep sleep.

Assam turned to Josh, "How long did it take you to calm him down when he woke up?"

Josh thought for a moment, "Not long, he just needed to know that Darjeeling was safe and he calmed right down," he remarked before turning silent. Assam turned to him, worried about him, but before she could say anything, Josh spoke up again, "My parents are coming soon, Scott always had a soft spot in their hearts. He was sort of treated as a third son."

Assam looked closely at him, it was clear that he was worried about something, "What's wrong dear?" she asked.

Josh grimaced, unsure of how to say it before settling on: "They've never met you, I guess I'm just nervous about them meeting you and their opinion on the matter."

Assam inhaled sharply, in truth, she had been thinking about this for a few days now. She had been reflecting on her feelings and then, she came to a decision, "Josh, would it be better for you to introduce me as your girlfriend or your fiancée?"

Josh snapped his head up sharply, making Assam fear she gave him whiplash. However, when he spoke, it came at barely a whisper, "I would prefer to introduce you as my fiancée, but are you sure? We still have almost two years before we could get married, that's quite some time to wait until the soonest we could have it."

Assam nodded, "I'm sure Josh, I love you from the bottom of my heart and I want to be with you until the end of my days."

Josh nodded, "As do I my love, I can barely imagine my life without you now," he replied, then he smiled, "Though we may have to have my poor mother sit before we drop the news else she may end up in one of these beds."

Just then they heard a voice come from the door, "Tell me what sweety?"

Josh and Assam jumped and spun to face the door, all of this woke Scott up, causing him to drowsily grumble, "What's going on?" before he looked up, "Oh, hello Mrs Hall, Mr Hall, I wish it was under better circumstances, but I'm glad to see you."

Mrs Hall smiled gently at Scott, kindness radiating from her very being, "It's alright Scott, please relax," she replied before looking at Josh and taking a seat, "Well, I'm sitting, now what's this news that would cause me to faint?"

Josh took a deep breath before saying "Mum, Dad, I'd like to introduce Assam, my fiancée."

Mrs Hall and Mr Hall looked at each other before Scott spoke up, "Blast, I've lost twenty quid,"

This caused everyone to turn to him, "What? I bet twenty pounds with Terre that I would be the first to propose, I didn't think I'd be beaten to the punch!" he exclaimed before looking at Josh and Assam, "Joking and my wallet aside, congratulations to both of you and like I said to Josh some time ago, Darjeeling and I will be waiting for our invitations to the wedding."

Josh smiled, "Of course, what kind of man would I be if I didn't invite my Best Man?"

"Or my Matron of Honour!" Assam chimed in.

Scott was stunned, but Mr Hall spoke up, "You have our blessing son, but is there a reason you're doing this now?" he asked with apprehension on his face.

Assam quickly spoke up, "Oh! I'm not pregnant, we just could wait any longer."

Relief flooded the faces of the adults and Scott took the opportunity to speak, "I am honoured, Josh,"

Then Josh remembered something from the previous day, "You said something to the Queen yesterday," he mentioned.

Scott smirked, "I said a lot of things to Her Majesty yesterday," he remarked, drawing chuckles from the adults and an eye roll from Josh, "But I can probably guess what you are referring to," he then shifted to a seated position in the bed, "Darjeeling and I talked a lot when I was bedridden and one topic we discussed was the prospect of children and, consequently, godparents and we decided that we would ask you and Assam to be our first child's godparents when we got around to having one."

"Well that won't be for a while yet," Mr Hall said before fixing Scott with a glance, "I trust we'll be getting an invitation to your wedding Scott?"

Scott nodded and Mr Hall relaxed. As Scott looked over the room an hour later, a gentle smile graced his features. It would take everyone else a half an hour to realise that he had slipped off to sleep but everyone agreed it was best for him to rest since Darjeeling and Lady Gray would be arriving in three days...


	22. Tanks: Ōarai and Koala

****Koala** **

****Churchill I/VII-Flag tank** **

****Matilda IIx10** **

****Cromwellx6** **

****M3 Stuartx3** **

* * *

****Ōarai** **

****Panzer IV H-Flag Tank: Commander Miho Nishizumi** **

****Panther-Forward Command Tank: Commanded by Günther Rommel** **

****Jagdpanzer 38(t)** **

****Stug III** **

****Type-89B** **

****M3 Lee** **

****Char B1** **

****Tiger(P)** **

****Type 3** **

****M4 Sherman x4** **

****Matilda II** **

****T30** **

****Valentine IX** **

****Panzer II Luchs** **


	23. Chapter 23

Those three days passed by very slowly for Scott, but being stuck in a hospital bed all day would drive most people batty. Fortunately for him, and the staff, Josh and Assam were allowed to put him in a wheelchair and take him on a walk through the halls on Friday. It was while on his afternoon walk when Scott asked the question on his mind, "So who's facing Ōarai tomorrow?"

Josh thought for a moment before Assam spoke up, "Koala, Scott, and it's actually today, remember time zones."

Scott nodded then furrowed his brow, "Koala?" he muttered in confusion before leaning back into his wheelchair, "The Australian themed school? What tanks do they even have?" he asked.

Josh shrugged, "Some M3 Grants and Stuarts, a handful of Matilda IIs, but apart from that, nothing really of note."

Assam disagreed, "I've heard rumours that they've been able to get their hands on a few Cromwells and a Churchill Mark I and they've been upgrading it to the Mark VII variant," she replied

Scott frowned, "That's not dissimilar to what we fielded against Ōarai last week, what's more, I doubt Ōarai will be unable to field the full twenty tanks so they won't have the numbers advantage. I feel as though we'll have a wipeout on the telly today."

Just then, Scott's neighbour from across the hall rolled up, "Well, Milord, they finally let you out have they?" he remarked.

Scott smiled, "Afternoon Baldwin, yes they finally did take pity on poor old me."

Baldwin chuckled, clearly amused, "Probably didn't want your missus to see you going mad."

Josh chuckled and Assam smiled, "They were probably scared what she'd do to them if he did," she remarked.

This brought Baldwin to a full out laugh. Scott was glad to see the currently disabled combat veteran having something to laugh about after his double amputation earlier that week. Just then a nurse walked up, "Pardon me Milord, but there's a Darjeeling and a Lady Gray on their way up to see you from the lobby."

Scott's eyes widened, "They're here already? I thought it would be morning before they arrived."

Everyone smirked, but before they could say anything, a blond-haired Scott seeking missile shot past them and buried herself in Scott's embrace. The force from the impact was enough to send Scott's wheelchair back about a foot. A minute later, Lady Gray came at a far more sedate pace but looking just as grateful at seeing Scott upright as her daughter, even if her daughter was trying her best to fuse his ribs together. After a few minutes, Darjeeling reluctantly loosened her grip on Scott in favour of allowing him to respond to her mother's question, "I feel quite alright ma'am, better now that Darjeeling's here, but I think the doctors would like to keep me another night, even if I can't see the need myself."

"Actually, I was thinking of letting you go now Mr Perkins," a voice said from across the room. This caused everyone to look at the one who spoke, "I realise some of you don't know who I am, I am Dr Richard Herring, I've been Scott's primary physician since he was injured."

Scott nodded, then looked at Dr Herring, "You'll allow me to leave early?" he asked.

Dr Herring nodded, "Yes, you're miles ahead of where we expected you. Best estimates put you waking up from your coma in two or three _months_ , and yet you were awake in two or three hours and there's no real reason to keep a healthy person in a hospital longer than is necessary to sign out."

Lady Gray smiled, "I'll be taking care of him from here out Doc, he'll be in good hands, I assure you."

Dr Herring nodded, then he looked to Baldwin, "We'll be getting those prosthetics I told you about the other day later today Captain, I'd like to get you ready for then now."

Baldwin nodded, and turned to Scott, "Take it easy Milord,"

Scott nodded, "You as well Captain."

With that, Josh got behind Scott's wheelchair and pushed him out to the waiting car, wherein, they were taken to Waterloo station for their train to Arundel. Upon their arrival, they discovered that their train was delayed due to mechanical problems. With nothing else to do, the group of five waited on platform nine for their train when a rail employee got on the PA, "We apologize for the delay of train number 76, a replacement railtour train will take you to your destinations, terminating at Portsmouth. Thank you for your patience."

Assam looked to Scott, "Railtour?" she asked.

Scott, for his part, looked as though he was a child on Christmas morning who got all the presents, "A Railtour is when they use a heritage engine on the mainline, typically a steam engine."

And then, almost on cue, the sound of a steam whistle could be heard as an engine with a green tender backed down to the carriages. Curious, Scott wheeled himself and Darjeeling, since she hadn't really left his lap, to the front of the train to see what was going on. When he got there, he was shocked, "Bloody hell," he whispered before looking the engine over in awe. In front of him was Great Western Railway number 2999, Saint-class _Lady of Legend_ , he stared reverently at the engine before rolling back and into the carriage with the help of Josh and Assam.

Soon they were seated and rolling out of Waterloo. Josh then looked to Scott, "So, which Southern Spam Can are we behind today?"

Scott smiled, "GWR 2999," he replied.

Josh's jaw nearly hit the ground, "The _Lady of Legend_ herself?" he whispered, "I never thought I'd ever get to ride behind her."

Lady Gray looked confused, "Pardon me asking, but what's so special about this engine anyway?"

Scott explained, "The original production of the Great Western Railway's Saint class ended in 1907 and none of them survived the cutter's torch. In the seventies, however, the Great Western Preservation Society began to plan for the new build of a Saint class and number it 2999," then Scott sighed, "She was labelled as an impossible dream, on par with getting a steam Railmotor and GWR King class 6023 _King Edward II_ running again, and yet all three operate and have been since April of 2019."

Josh took over, "Scott's an avid follower of the preservation circuit here in Britain and went to the GWPS' "Impossible Dream" event that April when the railmotor, _King Edward II_ , and _Lady of Legend_ ran together," then he chuckled, "There were times we couldn't get him to shut up when he went off about a steam engine."

Scott flushed but chose to say nothing. It didn't take long before they arrived at Arundel and they were escorted to the Castle where they were made comfortable whilst the telly was tuned to pick up the match.

* * *

Meanwhile, in Japan, Miho looked over the battle plan once more. The battlefield was an area of flat, open ground with hills near the Koala start and a forest to the west of the hills; Yukari had informed her that she had gathered intelligence that they would use the hills to fortify their flag tank, a Churchill I that was partially converted to a mark VII. Then they would spread out to search for the T30. In order to counter this, she devised a simple plan: Erwin would take their slower tanks: the Char B1, Tiger(P), Matilda, and a Valentine IX they had gotten their hands on, around the east of the hills to draw attention to themselves. Miho would take Jagdpanzer 38(t), Type 3, M3 Lee, and the Type-89B straight at them, also in the hope of drawing attention to themselves. Günther would have the difficult task, pulling off something similar to his Great Grandfather's escapade through the Ardennes during the first months of the Second World War. He would take his Panther F and a Panzer II Luchs through the forest and outflank the Flag tank.

Just then, she felt a pair of familiar arms snake their way around her, Günther rested his head on her shoulder, "You'll wear yourself out before the battle even starts at this rate, love."

She sighed, Günther was right, she had been feeling even more tired than normal, he wasn't finished though, "We don't have to worry about keeping the school open this year and yet you've been more anxious this year according to Anglerfish, what's wrong?"

She sighed, "I guess I feel as though I have to prove that last year wasn't a fluke."

Günther sighed, "To quote your mother, 'There's no luck in Sensha-dō.' and she's right, no one can deny you worked hard for that win last year. Now, what's really bothering you?" he asked gently, rubbing her cheek.

Miho squeezed her eyes shut, tears spilling out uncontrollably, it was just like Günther to pick up on when something happened, no matter how much you tried to downplay it. "I'm scared" she finally admitted.

But before he could ask what it was she was scared of, Yukari popped in, "Lady Nishizumi? Herr Rommel? They're requesting your presence for the opening ceremony."

Günther nodded, "Noted Yukari, we'll be there in a moment." he replied, before whispering to Miho, "We'll talk after the match, love."

He pecked her cheek and looped his arm through hers and they walked out to partake in the final starting ceremony. Normally, it would be a straight forward formality, a short time to exchange words between the Captains and Vice Commanders of each team before giving a short bow to their opponents and departing for their tanks. Today though was going to be different. In the short time, Scott had been a part of the Sensha-dō team of St Gloriana, he had left a lasting impression on each team they had faced which led everyone to be shocked when it was announced that he had been attacked in Britain, by members of his own family no less. Each of the commanders had wanted to pay tribute to the man for all he had done and the officials, surprisingly, agreed. As such, each commander who had faced St Gloriana had brought their teams to the match and they were assembled in front of a stage, where the Captain and Vice Commander of Koala stood behind an official from the Sensha-dō Federation. When Miho and Günther arrived, the official spoke, "Today, before we start the final match, we want to honour the man whose negotiation not only expanded the sport of Sensha-dō but also fostered relations with countries abroad. To illustrate this, I yield to Lady Shiho Nishizumi."

Miho was surprised her mother was going to say anything nice about Scott, considering he helped bring boys into Sensha-dō. But she was given little time to ponder this as her mother began to speak, "I met with the then Duke of Norfolk over the summer months to bring foreign schools into Sensha-dō, as Europe had a program in the past, and he was a relic of that past. I was struck in our first meeting at the elegance he carried himself with. I guess it was only natural for him to pair up with St Gloriana and, by extension, Darjeeling, as they have much in common. I later learned that he was related to a man I met years ago who had attempted the same thing, but whereas the father failed, the son succeeded. To my great joy, I am not giving a eulogy, as I have learned that he was actually released from the hospital this morning. I now yield to Captain Montgomery of the United Kingdom's Royal Marines to perform a traditional British hymn in his honour."

The Captain gave a short bow to Lady Nishizumi before conducting the Royal Marine Band and Choir, and so they sang: "I vow to thee, my country, all earthly things above/Entire and whole and perfect, the service of my love;/The love that asks no question, the love that stands the test/That lays upon the altar the dearest and the best;/The love that never falters, the love that pays the price/The love that makes undaunted the final sacrifice/And there's another country, I've heard of long ago/Most dear to them that love her, most great to them that know;/We may not count her armies, we may not see her King;/Her fortress is a faithful heart, her pride is suffering;/And soul by soul and silently her shining bounds increase/And her ways are ways of gentleness, and all her paths are peace"

Many were moved to tears and the applause took a few minutes to die down, where after, Miho and the Captain of the Koala team bowed and their teams dispersed to their tanks. Miho, upon entering her tank, turned on her radio, "You all know the plan, do your best, and it won't matter the outcome."

After receiving a string of confirmations, she turned off her radio and waited for the command for the match to start. While she waited, her mind turned to her other problem; Yukari and Hana immediately noticed their commander's sudden withdrawal into her mind and they were concerned. They, as had the entirety of Anglerfish, been brought into her confidence regarding the matter she was reflecting on and they were all keeping a subtle and close eye on her. But before they could break her from her introspection, the radio blared, "Match Start!" and so the game was on.

* * *

"Of course, they'd choose _that_ song to honour me, bloody Marines," Scott chuckled.

Josh joined him, "Least they didn't do _God Save The King_ Milord, would've been a bit much."

Darjeeling smiled, happy at hearing his banter again, but her mother spoke up with a question, "Who do you think will win Scott?"

Scott sighed, looking at the telly that was showing Günther and the Panzer II splitting off from the main group, "It appears as though the young Rommel will be reliving his Great Grandfather's infamous assault through the Ardennes, and I suspect that the Koala commander fell into the same trap as the French Commanders during the War, so I suspect that it will end the same way."

* * *

Günther was rapidly coming to the same conclusion Scott had, there were no tanks facing him. Just then, the Commander of the Luchs shouted to him, "I think it's empty Günther!"

Günther nodded, "Sure looks it, and, as much I as loath to say it, it is just like what my Great Grandfather did in 1940, James."

James sighed, "Blast, those history girls are annoying as hell with their comparisons," he muttered before staring ahead, before murmuring to himself, "At least Ceaser ceased at my request."

Unfortunately for him, Günther heard him, "That she has, I'd even go so far as to say she at the very least fancies you, James."

James blushed, "I'm quite aware sir, even a blind man would be able to see that, especially when we started kissing last week."

Günther chuckled, he didn't really have anything against the history girls, other than the girl who pretends to be his Great Grandfather, "Good for you lad, just don't disrespect her and I'm sure I'll be telling the story of how you two met to your grandchildren."

They proceeded a few more miles before sighting their target through the treeline. Breaking out of the trees at a fast speed, the Koala Churchill commander could only watch as a shell knocked out her tank. "Koala Flag tank knocked out! Ōarai retains their championship!"

Upon hearing those words Günther smiled, before ordering his driver back to the staging point. Once there, as soon as he spotted Miho, he leapt out of his tank and swept her into his arms and pulled her into a deep and passionate kiss. Soon, they had to break for air, and when they did, the most unexpected voice spoke up, "Well done my daughter, and you as well Mr Rommel."

Turning, Miho and Günther saw Shiho. Günther was the first to recover, "Lady Nishizumi," he replied, giving as graceful a bow as he could while still holding Miho, "Please, just Günther, I am dating your youngest after all."

Shiho cracked a rare smile. But Miho spoke up, "Mother, could you and Günther come with me for a moment?" she asked, timidly.

Shiho was concerned, but agreed, as did Günther. Miho led them away from all of Ōarai into the garages and shut the door, once she was sure they wouldn't be disturbed, she began, "Günther picked up on my anxiety before the match today and asked me what was wrong, but before I could answer, we had to do the ceremony," at Günther's nod, she continued, albeit, far more quietly than before, "Mother, Günther and I have been intimate for a while now, but…"

When Miho paused, both Günther and Shiho could assume what she was trying to tell them. Günther glanced nervously at Shiho, expecting rage, but instead was confronted with fear. Shiho pleaded with Günther, "Please, tell me you're going to take care of Miho and your child."

Günther was shocked, "Of course I will, I am a man of honour," then he reached into his pocket, "I had planned to do this after the match anyways," he muttered before pulling out a ring and kneeling before Miho. He took a short glance at it before speaking, "Miho, when we first met, you immediately captured my heart and I knew it would only be a matter of time before I would ask you to be my girlfriend. Just as I knew when we started dating that it wouldn't be long before this moment," he said before taking a deep breath, "Miho, will you do me the honour of becoming my wife?"

Tears formed in Miho's eyes, though she was fairly certain what his response would be, being proposed to was always going to be emotional, especially with her hormones all out of whack. She didn't leave him waiting for long though, "Yes, of course, I will."

* * *

Back in Britain, everyone cheered when Ōarai won then they started heading to rooms to sleep in as it was very early the next morning already. But before Darjeeling could help Scott to bed, his phone went off. Picking it up, he adopted an expression of confusion, "It's Miho," he remarked before answering, "Hello Miho, what's wrong? Well, yes I'm sitting, I don't have much say in it after all. I see, and your mother allowed it? Really? Wow, I'll admit I wasn't expecting that. Yes, she's here, she was about to help me to bed, considering the lateness of the hour over here. Wait, really? I'm shocked, that's all, I would have thought that you would have asked one of the Anglerfish girls. I see, well I'll tell her and we'll see you soon and give you our answer then. Good night Miho."

After he hung up, Darjeeling immediately asked if something was wrong. Scott took a moment to think about his response, "Not really, no. It's nothing that won't keep until morning though, so let get some sleep, I swear, hospital beds are designed to be uncomfortable, I didn't get a decent night's sleep while there."

Darjeeling was hesitant, she really wanted to know what had happened that caused Miho to call, but eventually agreed and they slept soundly until 10:00 the next morning.

* * *

When they woke up, Darjeeling helped him into his wheelchair and they found everyone seated at the dining table eating breakfast. Assam was the first to notice them, "Good morning you two, you slept late."

Scott sighed, "Yes well, Miho called me just before we went to bed, so I spent about five or ten minutes talking with her."

Lady Gray was confused, "Why'd she call you?" she asked.

Scott took a deep breath, "Well, short version: her and Günther are getting married since she's pregnant and she wants Darjeeling and I to stand with her at the altar." he replied.

To say everyone was shocked would have been an understatement. One could have heard a pin drop on the other side of the castle, and Scott thought he had before Josh spoke up, "There's a list of things I was expecting you to say, but I'll admit, that wasn't even close to being on the list."

Scott sighed, "Knowing her, I wasn't as surprised as I would have been if say, it was Stan and Pekoe calling us with that news, she's always been… expressive with her emotions."

Darjeeling and Assam furrowed their brows in confusion, that didn't sound much like the Miho they had met. Scott noticed their confusion and explained, "It's probable that she repressed that part of her after the winter tournament last year when her caring nature ostracised her from Kuro, just as it's likely that Günther revived that part of her when they met, from what I've heard, he's just like her."

Josh rubbed his chin, "A repressed nature, brought back to the surface after meeting their true love and other half. Sounds like another couple I know," he smirked.

Scott agreed, "You could say it was love at first sight, at least for me," he remarked before looking to Darjeeling.

For her part, Darjeeling nodded, "I may not have known it at the time, but that's how it was for me as well."

Scott smiled before turning to Assam, "If I could have them now?" he asked.

Assam smiled before handing him a blue velvet box. Scott thanked her before turning back to Darjeeling, "Darjeeling, you know I love you with heart and soul, nothing would bring me greater joy right now then if you accept me and this ring as a sign of our future." he said while opening the box and displaying the rings to her.

Darjeeling was overwhelmed, he had said that he wanted her to become his wife in the future, she just didn't think he would act soon. However, she didn't need to think about her response, "Of course my love."

Everyone cheered and congratulated the couple. Everything was good in their lives, Scott had been released to return to the _Ark Royal_ , he and Darjeeling joined Josh, Assam, Günther and Miho in the shared mindset of planning for their wedding and their first tournament was over. But there would be others, and Lady Gray knew the next one would test them in ways they never dreamed of...


End file.
